Madness most Royal
by Agent Spliced
Summary: what will happen when the others try to take on the rule? warning: the bad guys are bad. Things will happen like heavy drinking, smoking, drugs, rape, torture, very scary situations, and over the top descriptive language perhaps a monologue
1. From one madness to another

Author's note: This is my first story I'm writing on this site, and it promises to be a long and in depth one. I have a few chapters written already, and as soon as I know someone wants to read them, I will have them uploaded. I do warn you though; I have a story to tell, and I intend to tell it.

also, things that will happen in my story: light use of hallucinogens, the drinking of questionable substances that actually exist in the real world that I hope isn't copy write infringement somewhere, some sex or sexual situations, some hopefully epic fight scenes, more than 1 thing getting beheaded and murdered, a whole lot of plot and intrigue, lizards that turn to stone, and the use of several different ideas that I came up with in my head. If any of this freaks you the fuck out, then I strongly suggest seeing The Brave Little Toaster, a heartwarming tale of love, adventure, and one toaster's journey to save his young master.

EDIT: I have edited the first chapter to make a bit more sense, which is ironic since we're talking about a world of nonsense. Enjoy.

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Off in the distance, a bell dinged the time. Blue eyes opened beneath soft, long blond hair that had been cut to be light in the current summer heat and looked around. Pale hands reached up from beneath the veil of long grass and wildflowers and she made a futile attempt to swing her sleepy body into sitting position. "Is it tea time, yet...?"

She blinked again and then fully opened her eyes, this time sitting up. Counting the chimes, she looked first to the setting sun and then to the clock she could see in the distance. Squinting, she saw it was indeed 6 o clock. "Would they be expecting me...?"

No longer a girl, Alice was now a woman of merit, from what she kept being told. Her parents had made her a place in their house, but due to her older sister, she found herself free from the usual things adults had to do. Still having to make money, she'd chosen a job suited to her. She created, she drew, she wrote and made, and thus she stayed young. However, tonight, she had promised to meet some friends for a late lunch, cakes, and tea. She stood, looking at the town, and then turned to the setting sun. It was just beginning to go down.

Tonight, due to the air and the pollution rising from the towers of London, here on the outskirts of the large city the sky was gold, even this early on. The light turned her pale hair to sunlight, her blue dress to a pale green, her lips to rubies, and her skin to ivory. Now, like so many other times when the sun sunk low, she wondered what had triggered her decent into Wonderland. She had many theories, each as unlikely as the last. She had wondered if it had been the flowers; she lay in the same place the next day and nothing happened. She wondered if it had been her kitten; she spent a week with Dinah perched on her shoulder. She ventured to guess if it had been her dozing in lessons; she almost failed a class before she decided this was not it. Then she tried the opposites; she avoided flowers, she lent Dinah to a younger girl to play with so she could be away from her for a bit, she poured over her work in schools. The school was happily mystified as she rose to the top of her class, Dinah ended up having kittens in one of her ventures outdoors, and the flowers had a chance to overpopulate the area again, but still she was not in wonderland. She had tried daydreaming, being serious, and a variety of varying places and attitudes. Now, here she stood, still short for her age and not old enough to be expected to start a family, but with a chest and hips and all the physical attributes of a grown woman. It was empty to her; she missed her friends.

"I don't care about the real world, I just want to see the others again. Even playing croquet with the Queen was better than this..."

She sighed and began to walk down the hill for home and daily routine. As she walked, the setting sun hit the clock face and set it on fire. She stopped and stared, looking at the way the reflection of light on glass swallowed up the vision of the hands behind the glass on the clock. She smiled, a kind of forlorn smile. "It's like time has stopped at six." As she spoke those words, the wind shifted direction it was blowing from, picking up her hair and tossing it back over her shoulders. It was like something had clicked in her mind with the spoken sentence, and the sound of 2 voices, a man's and a hare's from a long ago tea party came back to her on the wind...

"...quarreled last march, just before he went mad you know... and ever since that he won't do a thing I ask, it's always six-o-clock now."

"Always 6 o clock in Wonderland..." Alice mused sadly, looking out at the city. She then sat back down on the ground, looking at her lap, which currently held only her hands. In her mind she went over every detail of everything she'd ever tried. Ever day lost. Every month lost. Until here it was, almost 10 years later, a full decade, and she was 20. Ten years of trying to go back. Ten years of never being able to tell people of where she'd been in her dreams, and how desperate she was to go back to her own made up world. Ten years of thinking she was missing something in her life, of clinging desperately to the idea of having tea with Hatter or listening to Caterpillar spin his tales... of simply being in the place she had felt most at home. This world she was looking at, with it's tall buildings so full and so empty, with it's people who said they loved her but had no idea what love was... This madness posing as sanity, she couldn't take it. She wanted to go back, if only in her dreams, to a land that was not here.

"It's impossible." she said, quietly, to herself, and then screamed it at the sky. "It's impossible!" she slammed her fists on the ground and stood, knowing if anyone had seen her they would think she was crazy, but she didn't care. She suddenly hated this place and the hypocrisy it stood for. She looked up into the sky and held back tears, that she would be subject to this prison of stone and cement forever.

The wind picked back up and blew it's breath into her face, coming from but going away from the city at the bottom of the hill. She continued looking up at the sky, feeling the wind blowing on her. It seemed to be laughing. She tightened her fists again and clenched her eyes in response to the wind's laughing. She then felt the wind grab the ribbon in her hair and pull it free, letting it dance with it. She turned, watching the ribbon go off in the wind. This was just adding insult to injury, and she would not stand for it.

She broke into full speed, her dress blowing out behind her, her high black boots pounding the ground. For some reason, or perhaps no reason at all, he hair was not being blow into her face; it stayed in a single wave behind her head, out of her eyes. She had lost sight of the ribbon now, lost in the sky, but every second or so it would show itself as a flicker of movement in the air. She followed it down the other side of the hill, down into a forest area, where it swooped down in front of her and darted in and out of the trees.

Something else seemed to be there now, in place of the ribbon. Alice wasn't sure what, or what was really going on, but she knew it was going this way, she could hear it in the area in front of her. She realized the path was sloping downwards, going away from the city and from her home. She could be lost if she kept running to catch whatever it was, and yet not even that mattered to her; she had never really felt right about the rules that, despite being set against nonsense, seemed to her to be made of people who knew nothing about what was and wasn't real.

As she chased, she payed little attention to the area around her, aside form avoiding the roots and pitfalls. Wait, roots and pitfalls? "Wasn't I in the field just a moment ago...?" She considered slowing her running and found she couldn't. She was worried for but a moment, before deciding it was just her body in the flow of running. The area seemed to be coming more and more enclosed, and for a brief moment, one she wasn't sure actually happened or if she had just blinked, the world became dark, and then flashed once more into a tangible feel. In this moment, she felt this amazing sensation, like the wind against her skin was trying to tickle her.

She laughed, and as she did she realized it was echoing. She was about to ponder this echo, when she finally saw what she was chasing. It was enough to make her heart skip a beat. It was a white rabbit. Even as she watched, the rabbit, which was quite tall and fluffy for a rabbit, seemed to stop running on all fours and straightened up, and, with a quick look behind him showing his small pink nose and monocle, tap his pocket watch and say, "Alice! You are as late as I am!"

"Rabbit!" She called in front of her, not bothering to hide her elation. "I deeply apologize for my lateness, but I forgot the way for so long..."

"Yes yes that's all very well!" He spoke again, putting away his watch so as not to bust it on the ground in the tremor of his steps. "But what shall we do about the current problem?""What problem?" Alice inquired, beginning to get out of breath.

"Well surely you know or you wouldn't have come!"

"No, sorry I-"

"The Queen of Hearts is missing!"

"The Queen?" She almost stopped dead, a motion which warranted a 'keep up Alice!' from the White Rabbit. "Sorry," she began running again, "but why should I help you find that horrid woman?"

"Because Alice," the Rabbit said with a slightly annoyed sigh, "it's your fault she's gone!"


	2. The power of words

author's note: you know what? I'm impatient. As such, I'm just going to write and write and then add what I have. Here's the second chapter. Enjoy.

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There were no more words exchanged until they reached a house which had a single large room. There was a rather large fireplace surrounded by pots and pans against one wall, a bed against another, a clock hanging on a third with an array of chairs and pictures, and against the last, a large expanse of brick. In the wall of brick there was a small, interestingly shaped hole in the wall at the bottom where it met the floor, and Alice gazed at it curiously. It seemed to be another entrance for White Rabbit, and she wondered if that small thing was the rabbit hole she originally fell through all that time ago. She then took the time to look around the room, and noticed that everything was clean, polished, and had ears. There was also a curious flower in a vase against the same wall that the hole was. It appeared to be there, and yet, not.

"Rabbit, where are we? And what exactly it going on?" Alice and Rabbit were seating comfortably in the chairs arranged. Drinks were bring served by the tables themselves, as such seemed to be the case in Wonderland. She was having a nice glass of some kind of juice; he had chosen coffee. She had chosen to speak after they were settled, and it seemed, finally on time.

"Well, you understand, I'm sure," his voice sounding high and nasally as he stirred milk into his coffee "that where you are is Wonderland, a place of imagination, and without time. That is not to say, however," he sipped from his cup during the pause "that time does not flow here; it simply does not really matter much. You, however, are with time, that is to say, you age. Due to this, Wonderland is affected by you. Before you came, time did not pass, but as you did come, a kind of catalyst seemed to have happened, and time began to pass for the first time in... Well I guess in a very long 'un-time'. Things began to change. However, because they happen in this 'un-time', though events pass, they seem to be happening backwards." he paused again, and while he was sipping his coffee, Alice looked, and did notice he seemed younger than he had. His coat seemed richer, his clothes newer, and his eyes much less bloodshot. Also, he needed only the monocle, where before he had needed glasses. "While you are here, you will not age. But when you leave, as the clock goes forward for you, it goes backward for us. I daresay, if you were to come here when you were an old woman, I would be but a kit, and the others would be as children to you! Still, Wonderland gives you what you need, and when you were a child you needed adults, where as now you are almost an adult yourself, you need people of your age, and when you are old, the bloom of youth.

"But I digress, " he took off his monocle and polished it as he spoke, breathing on it with a word "you asked where we are and what is going on. Well, currently, we are in my residence, looking as it was long before you came here the first time. What is going on is the passing of the time. You disappeared after your trial. I daresay it's useless to ask you how you did it, because it has been years and you probably won't remember it; I know because I'm a younger rabbit now and I don't remember it. The point is the Queen was furious. She, in the largest fit of rage I've ever seen her, ran after you alone without her card guards, and disappeared into the Liaison's Labyrinth surrounding Queensland." He stopped to sip his coffee, and to look approvingly at the shocked and interested look on Alice's face. "When that happened, the other suits took up the rule. Now, it's not to say that they're particularly bad at it; they've been doing it behind the scenes for years, but they're getting a little argumentative over who belongs in charge, and as civil war is the last thing anyone wants, we need the Queen of Hearts back."

"Rabbit, "Alice began, hoping she wasn't interrupting, "Are you serious? You mean to say that there were more than just the Queen and her court running things?"

"My dear girl do use your head." Rabbit put down his coffee and gave her a worried look. "I understand that Wonderland is known for it's madness but do you really think that any of us are crazy enough to let that woman rule a land alone?"

"Well the March Hare maybe..." Alice said wonderingly, a finger on her chin in thought."

White Rabbit laughed. "Ah, true. True, I will give you that. Well, we don't see much of him anymore."

"Oh? Why not?"

"He's always bothering Humpty Dumpty now." White Rabbit shook his head. "Humpty Dumpty was, as you know, the keeper of knowledge here. His mind, however, was a bit befuddled by age. Thanks to you, however, his mind's become younger, and stronger. The March Hare, for all his madness, is a daring plotter, and he wants to see if Humpty Dumpty can deduce where the Queen of Hearts has gone. If he can, he'll use the Queen in her troubled state, possibly dead state, to get him into a seat of power, or worse; rule the land. I don't want to see what could happen if Wonderland gets into his furry brown paws; he is the only one who hasn't benefited in mind strength from this rolling back of time. I fear he truly is just a mad, mad fellow. But in any case" she stood up, and barely came to her waist when she too stood. "We must be on our way."

"But where are we going?" Alice looked around and saw her reflection. She looked tired, and dirty from running through the forest and field. "Can I clean up first?"

"Who did you meet the last time we came here after me? And no, once you figure out where we'll going you'll realize you're only about to get dirty again. Bathe after that."

Alice walked out the door after him. He began his usual run-hop, though not as fast this time, probably as there was little to be late for at the moment; the little Alice did remember was that the first thing she'd done on dry land in Wonderland was run into a Dodo who was throwing a caucus race, and one can never be late for that. A quick jog was enough to keep up with Rabbit as he ran through the forest.

As they ran, Alice noticed the terrain changing. The trees were getting sparse, and the ground was becoming more like sand, until they had arrived on the beach. There sat a very fat dodo with light brown hair about to be smoking a pipe and singing a song of sea wind and the surf. As they approached he turned to face then and saluted them with his pipe.

"White Rabbit, me boy! And Alice! I haven't seen you since the creation of this ocean was formed!" He shook with laughter and his deep voice seemed to roll over them like the tide. Alice blushed; she remembered causing that ocean with her tears so long ago. She stopped thinking about the past before she was drawn into it and turned her attention back to the words the old codger was saying. "Bit of a work come's over me now!" he spoke, laughing as he took a match from his pocket to light his pipe. "The songs I know, and my awesome shape! I could run a caucus race for miles! And my new ship, you should really see it-"

"If you please, sir, we simply must ask you a few questions." White Rabbit interrupted, his monocle shining in the light glinting off the water. Alice, wondering what shape he meant as he appeared to be as round as he had ever been, turned toward the waves, enjoying the feeling of the wind on her face, let them have their talk. "Have you seen anything of Gryphon or Mock Turtle? They often used to come by this way."

"Indeed friend. But what can they do for you? You know Gryphon is now but a young man now... And Mock Turtle! Never stays on topic that one! Still," he added, thinking, "they are in better spirits of late, as they aren't always on the run from people trying to eat them." He took a puff from his pipe, and watched as it blew away in the wind. "Yes, I think that they could help you. But I warn you, Mock Turtle still likes to tell a tale; he may give you the kind of information you don't want to hear."

Alice turned to look at him then, with a questioning look. She was about to interrupt and ask what kind of information could be the wrong kind, but White Rabbit held up a small paw. "Not now Alice; I know what you're going to ask, and you're not ready to listen yet. Your head is still wrapped up in fairy tales. But please Sir," the Rabbit began again, turning back to the Dodo, "tell us where we can find our friends."

A short walk later and they were down the coast, to where the waters met the forest in a kind of grassy, cut off area with thin trees and a pool of reflective water. The gryphon, his white hair not yet feathers, fell around his eyes in a wavy fashion. His eyes were dark and surrounded by dark markings; a symbol of what it would be when the beak was in place. His feet her cloven, and soft, large wings were folded against his back, strong muscular chest already showing where it would be a horse's bottom soon but so trained it barely gave any hint he was breathing. He was looking at the water. The Mock Turtle, his body the usual mis-mesh of random turtle parts and everything else, seemed healthier, happier, and much easier with himself. His calf-like head was longer and fuller, and his arms were thinker and strong. Everything about him seemed more... animated. His movements were quick, and he seemed no longer quick to tears. An all-around good change for the both, Alice thought to herself.

As she and Rabbit walked up, Mock Turtle was the first to notice them. He extended an arm(?) in greeting and spoke, his voice showing a hint of whine to it, but otherwise deep and said, "Greetings, friends! And what brings you to my fair home?"

"Information, Turtle." answered Rabbit, his usual get down to business air about him. "I was wondering about the latest happenings of March Hare, and also where the others stood in our plans." Alice bent down to the water and looked at her reflection, her hair dipping down into the cool clear liquid and making ripples. She watched the grow and spread and then dipped her hands in after, washing her face and arms."

"Well, dear friend! March Hair is deep within the Fortress of Doors. It's where he and Humpty Dumpty feel safest; as Dumpty's way seems to be falling off walls, he thinks a place of doors is best for him. I know they have tracked the Clockwork Realms in their search for the Queen of Hearts, and are now looking into the Pale Realms, though either side of the chessboard seem unlikely to help. They, as you know, are controlled by the Clubs, and thus aren't likely to be swayed. The Diamonds won't help them; they seem to be, as usual, far too interested in their own affairs of counting their money. The Spades could yet be duped...

"From what I have heard, and from what the Veil of Tears sends me via the waterways, the Queen has left the Liaison's Labyrinth some time ago; when last I heard she was taking refuge in her own invention of the 4 towers in the Majestic Maze, but that place is so huge and frightening that it could just be expected she go there to escape her enemies. Other likely places have and always will be either the Land of Fire and Brimstone or the Platform of Broken Mirrors, but either of these are also very hard to prove because of the danger presented. Then, the Queen might but be hiding at all, and merely be disguised as a Spade or a Diamond..."

Alice zoned out here, deciding to leave it up to Rabbit to decipher what was truth and what was mere gossip. She sat down now beside the water and the 3 figures, her skirts folding about her, and watching the Gryphon. As he breathed, the only sign of movement were his wings folding and unfolding slowly. His legs were stretched out behind him as he sat in his regal way, his eyes closed. He seemed so human. Is that how all young gryphons are? she though inwardly, and turned her mind back to the mock turtle. He was now sitting with his head back and his eyes closed, his arms moving in an elaborate fashion, obviously telling a long story. She listened back in.

"...And so then there I was sitting there when the Ace of Diamonds walks up to me and you know how the Aces are. LArger than life and far too itnerested in the feel of his own muscles and he tells me, 'you know you can't be eating that cake' and I tell him 'well why not it's sitting here and it seems to be safe' and he says 'no it's not that you can't it's just that-"

"I beg your pardon, Gryphon," Alice said to the Gryphon, not wanting to interrupt the Mock Turtle but wanting desperately for something interesting to listen to. The Gryphon, for his part, opened his dark eyes and turned the yellowing pupils to her. His wings stayed still as he brought a long nailed hand up to rest his chin on it. "Yes, Alice?" the mystical voice brought shivers down her spine, but she retained herself and continued on. "I was wondering, why do you look more human now then you did last time...?"

"Ah," the Gryphon began, his smiling mouth showing sharp teeth. "That's because-"

"Do let he tell the story Gryphon I do a much better job." the Mock Turtle interjected with a wave of a coven hand and a cowish grin. "It's because, dear Alice" not noticing that Alice was laying her hands on her lap in a most bored way, and that her face had taken on an 'are you serious' expression, "That Gryphons, at least the ones here, are born, not hatched. The Gryphon mothers, not wanting to give birth to something claws, behooved, winged, and beaked, have babies of the soft, pink, fleshy variety after humans. As they grow older, they take the true form of a gryphon. Our Gryphon here, is about 21; he is mature by Wonderland standards but if he were following the rules of his own pack, he would still be considered a child. A shame, because then he would not be able to enter the Caterpillar's Club, which I am happy to say is open once more. A fine place to go it is; you're always able to get a nice drink and enjoy some of the perfumed smoke in the room-"

"Wait just a moment Turtle." The White Rabbit interjected. Alice looked at him. He looked excited and, more so, surprised. "Are you telling me you only thought until now to tell me that the younger-again Caterpillar has re-opened his place of business?"

"Well of course I would have told you eventually!" the Mock Turtle exclaimed with a look of hurt. "But first I simply must tell you of the last time I was there!" Gryphon had already closed his eyes again, a look of stillness about him. "There I was minding my own business and drinking a lovely blend of jasmine and rose when I was met with none other than-"

"Come on Alice." Rabbit was already grabbing her hand with his paw and pulling her into the forest. "We must be swift." Alice ran after him.

"But where are we going?" She said, her feet somehow not slipping on the leaves that were now all around her.

"Into Wonderland Woods, of coarse!" His voice becoming an echo in the fading light of the sun through the treetops.

"And why are we running?" she asked, already thinking the answer would be because they were late. She was surprised, then, by his responce, sounding almost far away due to the pace set.

"We need speed if we're going to get you changed for the event, and you simply cannot go wearing clothes of the outside. You will be far too easily recognized, and I want to keep your being here away from the March Hare's knowledge for as long as the Mock Turtle's mouth will let me."

As she ran, Alice took a quick look over her shoulder, watching for a moment the figured of Gryphon and Mock Turtle fade out of side and dissapear behind the rows of trees. For once, she was not curious to hear what had happened or who it had happened with, not only because she found the Mock Turtle's way of words incredibly boring, but because she could very well be on her way to the most interesting party of her life.


	3. clubbing can be tricky

okay, so here's the third chapter. It took me a bit to type this one, first because it's so long and second because the computer was usually being used for WoW raids by Kristof. This was also tricky for me because I knew what I wanted to happen, I just wasn't sure what was crossing the line this early in. In any case, it's done, and chapter four will be out as soon as I can figure out exactly how Hatter will react to the plot twist.

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The 2 figures stepped through the low-laying vegetation into the dark, smoke filled room as inconspicuously as could be allowed. To Alice, the whole place was set up like some kind of bizarre circus. Dancers dressed in the suits of cards swirled in and out of the pulsing lights. People in varying states of humanoid were enjoying the flavored smoke large, ornate hookahs. Multicolored words and pictures drifted through the air, which, oddly, was not unpleasant; it smelt of vanilla and lavender and the heat of something she could not name. It was almost too much for her to take in, and yet, Alice felt somehow comfortable here. Perhaps it was because she knew that, deep in a part of her mind, she had imagined this place, this interesting dark but welcoming place away from the every day, and so her mind had made it real.

The Caterpillar sat on a large mushroom, his legs crossed and his body looking a glowing green and purple, with what seemed to be a 7 foot tall hookah sitting next to him. She knew better than to know it really was 7 feet tall; they had shrunk themselves to get in, as had everyone else here. But with the illusion in place and the scents in the air, ir was hard to remember the correct order of things. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she had the first time she had come to wonderland.

Breathing in the fumes, she let herself calm down, and walked beside White Rabbit. She had been a little apprehensive at first, wondering if Rabbit really could disguise her to look like the other residents of Wonderland. Looking around this room, full of people with scales instead of skin, darting tongues, long nails, and a rainbow of colors that seemed to go in whatever the light was this place was lit with, she knew he had known what he'd been doing when they dressed. For his part, Rabbit had changed his usual smart look for that of a black buttoned vest, his usual gold pocket watch for a different, red one on a chain, put some dye on his fur so he appeared to be a patched rabbit rather than a white one, was wearing red spectacles and had certain accessories like gloves and a small black hat to further try to fit in with the crowd. On Alice, he had gone beyond himself to try and make her indistinguishable.

Where usually her hair was down and straight, her blue dress sporting high waist, her stockings white and her boots knee-high and laced, she felt as though she wouldn't know it was her if she looked in the mirror. Her hair had strings of multiple colors in them, and were braided and knotted in more ribbons and bands so that they fell around her face and shoulders in varying length and textures. Her dress had sleeves that were merely half an inch thick, showing off the tattoos of swirls and spikes Rabbit had painted on the left side of her face, starting next to her eye and going down to end where her arm began. The dress itself was white, with a waist that hung on her hips and was very fluid around her, falling almost like water around her frame. The straps of the dress, the hem at the bottom, and the lacing in the front which started at her belly button and wound itself stopping its trail to just below her breasts allowing her to have breathing room, were red. It fell to about mid thigh, which 2 inches lower was where the stocking started. They were red and white horizontal striped, and had the effect of lengthening her body and pulling the dress into something that matched itself with the area around her. She had looked in the mirror before the left, at the low line of the neck, at the way one could almost see her breasts in the inches of skin left bare by the lacing in front, and by the fact that she wasn't wearing any shoes, only the cotton-like stockings of the same material and fashion as her dress, and wondered if all this was necessary to look like the "ordinary" here in Wonderland. Now, standing in this room, she was glad of the clothes she was wearing.

"You were right again, Rabbit," Alice whispered to him, her voice barely audible over the music and laughter playing in the room. What that music was she couldn't tell; it sounded like someone had taken the feeling of being in this place and turned it into a tune which seemed to play from no where. She knew there were lots of low beats to it, a kind of pulse, and some kind of instrument playing over it that seemed so otherworldly, so like the countries she had read about in her classes where women dressed in veils and the rooms were always dark and alive like this was.

"Not now Alice" Rabbit spoke under his breath so no one would hear him. "We have to get over to Caterpillar and try and get some information from him. Now, while we're here, I don't want you to mingle so much as just enjoy yourself. Always remember, you helped create this, you deserve to let yourself go."

They walked over to Caterpillar, who was sitting on his mushroom next to a large bar. When Alice saw who was bar tendering, she almost let it all fall apart right there. Sitting behind a bar, on a platform made just for him, with gloves on his paws and his usual grin, stood the Cheshire Cat. As she wasn't ordering anything just yet, he kept washing the glass, and didn't give her a second look. She, for her part, kept her face blank, trying to keep her mind on letting the caterpillar know in the easiest way, while making sure he was willing to help.

"Ah, new patrons to my plot, how wonderful" his voice sounded like the smooth liquidy smoke he blew out with almost every syllable. The word "wonderful" stayed in the air and would itself around Rabbit and Alice, before joining the rest of the cloud-like atmosphere.

"Greetings, Caterpillar" said Rabbit in a voice most unlike his own serious one. "I bring with me a visitor, someone who has never been to this place before."

"Ahhhh, sir Rabbit, you do me an honor to being me a young virgin." The word "ahhhh" snaked itself around her, and she felt a sense of wonder to her. How did he knew she was a virgin? Was it that obvious? Or did he mean it another way?

Caterpillar moved closer to her, and she felt some of his hands move over her skin. She realized that this dress, along with being fluid, felt as though there was little but air between the Caterpillar's hands. She felt her heart quicken. He blew the smoke out of his mouth to the side and then ran one hand up her waist, across her chest and neck, and then licked the finger he'd used. "Ah, yes. Very beautiful."

Alice looked out of the corner of her eye at Rabbit, to see if she should be stopping him in his actions. Rabbit, showing no signs of worry, gave her the small twitch of his nose that was the signal to let him in on the plan.

"Yes, sir Caterpillar" her voice sounding cool and flowy, her mind fighting to keep her heartbeat under control. "However, I have met you before, a long time ago. You were an older man, then."

They watched for a few tense moments as he seemed to be trying to figure out her words. Then his eyes shot wide for a moment and he dropped his voice, trying not to let the other patrons in on what was going on.

"Alice! White Rabbit! Well I won't ask what happened to you because there obviously isn't time for that!"

"Oh Caterpillar we were so worried to let you know what was going on instantly." Alice's voice dropped back to her normal soft one for a moment as she showed him a relieved smile.

"Caterpillar, I need a word." Rabbit's voice was low and serious, and his eyes were darting back and forth to the people around the area. "Not here though; too open. Can we have a word in back?"

"Yes but, Alice, you will have to stay here to avoid suspicion. One patron in my office is normal; two is attracting suspicion. Before I go I must say I am sorry I have to keep up appearances and I don't want anyone to think I've got my head on politics instead of on pretty girls."

"Caterpillar, we can talk more about it later. For now, come on." Rabbit's voice was an urge and a plead, and Caterpillar nodded, his old composer back on his face.

Loadly he said, "Come sir, we can discuss the details in my office." Quietly he said, "Alice, I want you relax, we'll be back soon. Go up to the bar and order yourself something. Absinthe, I recommend."

"Ab-what?" Alice looked confused."

"Just say The Green Fairy in either gold or original. The Cat will take care of you, even if you don't reveal yourself; he's on ourside, yes, but he's also quite the bartender." With that, the Caterpillar left his hookah and slid off his mushroom, making his way to the office. He turned back just before stepping fully into the room and said normally, "Help yourself to some hookah if you chose, girl." and closed the door behind him.

Alice turned away from them and strode to the bar. The Cheshire Cat's fur was long and purple in the light, his eyes a yellowing-green. She felt like he was looking through her for a moment, then noticed his smile widen for a moment. He knows, she thought. For a few anxious moments she feared he would blow her cover, and then put down his glass and nodded his barely connected head.

"And what can I do for you, 'miss'?" his voice was low and husky, with a slight hiss after every word. My secret is safe for now, she thought, and allowed herself to melt easily into her dress.

"I'll have either the gold or the regular green fairy. Compliments of Caterpillar."

"Compliments I'm sure." the Cat's voice dropped low and he float walked over to her. "Can you take such a drink, dear? I am quite possitive you've never had anything like that to drink before."

"I'm sure, Cheshire Cat." She held out her hand. Her voice dropped low, too, and sounded slightly annoyed. "Cat I am old enough to go out into the world and into Wonderland so I am old enough to have whatever this drink is."

"Suit yourself, but should you get yourself into trouble, I can't help you." He turned around, grabbing a bottle high on the shelf. Trouble?, she thought. What kind of trouble?

"Here you are." Cat had turned back around and placed a glass filled with a green liquid that seemed to glow, even under the straight white light that surrounded the bar. Whatever made the drink glow seemed to pulse with the same beat of the music that filled the air. "Absinthe, straight, in it's glowing Green Fairy state. If you can down that without flinching, you get a glass of the gold." His eyes and smile seemed to look all the more laughing as he turned back to his work.

She picked up the glass and breathed it in. It smelled like a kind of burning, like a cleanser she had once used to mop the floor."Well, at least it doesn't say 'drink me'." Feeling that now familiar feeling of her heart race, she downed the drink in one gulp.

A harsh taste, followed by a feeling of heat traveling all through her body, and she almost gagged, but held it in, barely. She put her arm holding the glass up to hide the fact that her face was contorting into that of a grimace as her body reacted to just having had a drink of a very strong substance.

She looked up, her face under control. Everything seemed at the same time clearer and somehow very blurry. She could hear the sound of a woman laughing, and feel every time one of the dancers took a step. Her cheeks felt very red, and she found that she didn't want to open her eyes all the way. Lazily she looked at the Cheshire Cat with a wry smile, and raised his glass to him.

"That wasn't bad at all, sir." she said, slightly swaying in the chair and with a bit of slur to her words. "I think I'll have another shot of the same."

"Very well miss." The Cheshire Cat's smile was dark under the direct light as he gave her another glass, quietly adding "you're going to feel this later, you know."

Waving off the feline's words, she again downed this in a single gulp. This time it didn't burn her throat so much as singe it, and her body didn't convulse so much as pleasantly shudder. The previous feelings of everything being sharp but dull at the same time were heightened, and she had a strange urge to laugh. So this is being drunk, she thought. I rather like this. I wonder why they urge you not to do it in the other place.

"You can really throw 'em back." came an oily voice thick with accent to the side of her. She turned her head and cocked a brow. There was a table next to her in the lower light of the club with a large hookah on it decorated with pictures of the constellations. Smoking this hookah was a lizard who seemed very tall and some-what muscular wearing a pair of tight black pants and an open black vest with no sleeves. Sitting at the table surrounding him were girls, all of whom had animalistic features, some who obviously were animals, in varying states of undress. She wondered for a moment why the people weren't being thrown out for being so undressed. Then in the next minute she wondered why she wondered.

"Sir, you have no idea what I've been through these past few years let alone hours and I think if I want to cut loose, be myself and have a couple drinks, I'm allowed to." her slur was obvious now but her tone wasn't any less off-putting.

"Ohh, so the spirited lass 'tis drinking spirits. Well allow me t'introduce myself. Me name's Bill. I be a lowly chimney sweep during t'day, but a'night, I am a finder of ladies." Then he leaned in close to her face speaking in a matter-of-fact way, "I like to fuck 'em."

Alice didn't know what to say or do here, and Bill, seeing she wasn't going to respond, continued, standing to be next to her at the bar. "Yep, I like to fuck al'right. You thou', lass, you don't seem to interested in the idea of fucking."

It wasn't that Alice was so innocent that the cursing was bothering her; she had grown up some in the last 9 years or so. It was that she had never seen anyone speaking so openly about something she had always considered a private act. Maybe not holy, as they had once tried to drill into her head, but at the very least not something you would want to do in a crowded area, even if the area in question was very darkly lit and filled with the most tantalizing smells and sounds...

"No, sorry. I've never been one for public fucking." Alice turned back to the bar, waiting for Cheshire Cat to finish with a man who's face was hidden in shadow but seemed to be showing the Cat a deck of cards. "It's never really been my thing."

"Ah but you just haven't experienced it yet." She suddenly felt a hand slide from behind her back to the opening the dress had at the sides of her breasts and slip his hand instead. In a quick movement one hand was playing with her breast while the other wrapped around her , pressing her into his front. She could feel something hard pressing back, and she knew it was his cock. She gasped.

"There, you see? Your nip's already hard, girl. Come on, let'see what they look like, eh?" He began to slide the straps off her shoulder. She was nervous, she had no idea what to do to stop him that wouldn't completely reveal who she was. Then she heard the sound of something unzipping.

"Excuse me, Bill, that's my date you're about to rape." Came a silky, cold voice from the other side of her. She turned her head and saw the same man who had been entertaining the cat a few moments earlier; apparently either he'd seen her in trouble or Cheshire Cat really had been able to do something anyway. Either way she was grateful, but afraid to show it just yet.

"Ah, sorry Hatter. I'll be on my way." Hatter? she thought, curious. He had March Hare had been thick a thieves time time she had been here. Now she would see where he stood in their plots.

The man guided her away from the bar and to a table which she realized was actually a mushroom fashioned to be stable and with another ornate hookah sitting on it. He invited Alice to sit at one held of a large padded couch in front of the mushroom, and then sat down next to her.

"Now, before we get to talking miss...?"

"Dinah." It was the first name to pop into her head.

"Dinah." Nodded the man, picking up the end of the hose to the smoking device. "Can I invite you to have a smoke with me?"

She was going to refuse, but decide it would be odd for her too, so she nodded her head with an accepting, "Of course." He gave her the hose, and she, taking it, noticed it was only part hose; it stopped being a hose about 6 inches from the end which she held, and had a kind of wooden end to it with a small tip of metal and a hole all the way through so it could contour to the shape of your mouth. She put this end between her lips and breathed.

The hookah made an interesting sound, like bubbles being blown in water, and she felt a sense of light-headed clarity. It was almost like drinking more of the absinthe, but it was somehow more pure, more filling. She breathed until her lungs were full, and then exhaled. A wave of whitish smoke came pouring out of her mouth, and the scent of jasmine overtook her in the cloud for a brief moment before once again it mingled with the rest of the happenings in this room and went back to the usual perfume scent.

The man then took the nossle and had himself a couple puffs before handing it back to her to smoke as she pleased. "Now, why were you letting that idiot get his hands all over you?"

She had a taste of the hookah again and then spoke as she exhaled, her words sounding odd and deep coming from behind the smoke. "I didn't let him so much as wasn't sure how to fight him off."

"Things of that nature can be easily delt with by simply getting up and walking off." the man nodded and waved at Cat to send him a round of drinks, which was acknowledged with a soft meow and then was busy being set up with one of the mechanical ladybugs that droned in the air.

Alice took the time he was doing this to look him over. He wore a deep blue silk shirt with a vest over it of crimson red satin. His buttons on both were black, as were his shoes. His pants matched his shirt, and his gloves matched his vest, in color and material from what Alice could tell. his hat was just as tall as she remembered, with the same 10/6 tag sticking out of one side, but seemed in much better condition. His hair was longer, about to his shoulders, thick and dark brown, and seemed so perfectly combed she doubted even if he tossed his hair it would go out of place. His face was much more defined; she guessed he was in his mid 20's now, by the way his neck and face seemed slim. His nose was slim, but long, giving him the look of a carved doll and accenting both mouth and eyes well. His eyes, she noticed were a deep green, Possibly too green, she thought, and his mouth was burgundy. Something she did find interesting was that, like her, she guessed that he too could stand out in the sun for long periods of time and not get any tanner. She based this assumption on the fact he was a pale as she, and she liked to take strolls through the woods and fields and he loved his tea parties.

"What did you order us?" she asked, her mind drifting some but still managing to stay on topic.

"A pot of tea and some of the Golden Dragon." His voice sounded light and easy in this situation. He was smiling with one courner of his mouth, a kind of laughing smile. An insane smile? Alice thought to herself, not sure if she should be on her guard.

"So, you know my name. What's yours?" asked Alice, trying to be nonchalant.

"I'm called the Mad Hatter." Hatter said, tipping his hat in her direction.

"And, are you mad sir?" her voice was somewhat quiet.

"Now, that is a matter of speaking." he said, lazing back into the pillows they sat on, crossing one of his legs. "Being mad I mean. One could be called mad for doing what they think they should in spite of all resistance, for following your heart, or for doing as you please. In my opinion, all of us here are mad. The Caterpillar is mad to bring so many people he doesn't know to a place he considers a second home, simply to enjoy themselves. Bill over there is mad because he will have sex with whomever he wants no matter what the outcome. Many of the people here are mad because they would show their emotions perhaps too soon, or drink more than they should. People who would be serious in the face of everything. I once knew a girl who went into a world she wasn't sure of at a young age and stayed long enough to make lasting friendships." Alice busies herself pouring herself a cup of tea at this point before looking back at him. He was starring at the ceiling with a thoughtful look on his face. "And I have also known a person to have been my friend for years, and then one day in the search for power, turn against me and all that our friendship stood for. I did nothing, simply letting him go, and decided that anyone who would turn against people who cared, even if those people were not in their right mind, was not worth the argument." Here he turned to look at her, his green eyes searching. Perhaps searching himself. "Who was the madder of the two, I wonder? He for deciding that power and greed were more important than loyalty and friendship? Or I, for letting him go without trying to make him see and then telling my story to someone I barely know."

Alice looked at him, and then got very close to him, close enough that he could smell the alcohol on her breathe, and with a soft, joke mocking in her voice said, "You are the mad one, Mad Hatter."

Hatter laughed, and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling him to sit leaning into him. She gave a small laugh and folded her legs to her stomach, putting all of her on the stretched out couch. With her head now resting on his chest and his arm wrapped around her securely, she took a long inhale from the hookah pipe. Breathing out, she watched as it took the form of a young girl walking to a castle crafted with hearts. Alice curiously payed attention as the green-gray smoky form of her young self seem to look back at her before disappearing into the air around her. She thought for a moment, then lazily turned herself to look at him, still resting on him, and began.

"Hatter?"

"Hmmm?" he asked her, smoking now and thinking of nothing in particular.

"What do you know about the succession of the throne?"

"We're sitting here most comfortably and you want to talk politics? I think the air in Wonderland is getting to your head." he joked.

"Oh please." she said, accidentally slipping into her actual voice before she caught herself and continued, getting an idea. "If you answer me this question, you can ask a question of your own and I will answer it."

"Any question?" Hatter perked up.

"Any at all." she nodded.

"Alright, it's a deal." he made himself comfortable, putting the end of the hookah down and putting both arms around her, giving her his full attention. "The Queen always rules the throne, the King is her second. This much I'm sure you know but I'm just re-viewing. The reason for this, few people know, is because of the protectors to the throne. The Ace protects the King, and the Jack protects the Queen. One would think the Ace would be in charge, but he is just the muscle. The real person to get around is the Jack, the Court's royal spymaster. He knows more about fighting than any of us combined could have forgotten. Since he protects the Queen, it is the Queen who rules.

"The most powerful suit is the suit of Hearts. Next come the Spades, normally in charge of execution. They had a lot of business when the Queen was around. Next in line are the Clubs, the royal battle masters. They also rule the Pale Realms, kingdom of the chess pieces. They have their own mini monarchy to themselves. The Diamonds are last in line, usually in charge of the royal treasury. Of all the suits, they have the least power, and they don't care at all, they just sit around all day counting their coins.

"I know they have palaces and courts all their own, but I have never been to any court but the Heart's court. I hear of late the court has been closed, mostly due to the disappearance of the Queen but also because of the Jack's actions since the Queen left."

"What actions? What did he do?" asked Alice, trying to keep her speech from becoming too unlike her usual one in her intoxicated state.

"Hey that's more questions. Now it's my turn to ask a question." Hatter laughed.

"Alright, then. What's your question?" Alice looked up at his face.

His green eyes were soft. "Why haven't you kissed me yet?"

He bent down, and Alice felt his lips on hers. The feeling was sweet, like the syrups they used to put in crushed ice and eat in the summer time. It was also satisfying to something she had been feeling in her stomach ever since she had laid down on him. She felt his hair in her hair and matched him by placing her hands on his neck, pulling herself deeper into the kiss. She was now feeling very lightheaded, and found that she didn't want to open her eyes, only concentrate on the taste of his mouth and the texture of his skin on her hands. She wasn't sure if it was the drinks she'd had or the kiss, but she was melting slowly into his arms and into the couch. As she melted, she felt his hands travel down from her hair and over her shoulders and back. She let out a soft sound, like a moan, and felt her body shudder. This is like drinking absinthe, she thought. but better.

"Excuse me." Alice and Hatter stopped and looked to the side. There stood the white rabbit, still in his disguise, and Caterpillar. They were looking at her with raised eyebrows. "If you're almost through here, we have a mission to go on."

"You have to leave?" Hatter asked. "Are you going to belong to Caterpillar now?"

Alice worried about the number of girls must belong to Caterpillar by the way Hatter had to ask, but she decided to not think about it.

"No, Hatter, I'm just going on a trip with Rabbit here. Nothing to worry yourself over."

"Can I come with you then?" Hatter asked.

"No!" replied Alice quickly.

"No need to put yourself in any harm because of us, Hatter." added Rabbit.

"True nonsense." Hatter said. "In these times we have to help each other if we can. Also, I am strong and able to fight, where as you are a girl and you are a rabbit. You may need me."

Alice and Rabbit looked at each other, each with a stressed look on their face, and then turned back to Hatter, pretending to be pleased with his offer. "Thank you, sir." said Rabbit. "Yes, I suppose an extra pair of hands could be very useful." added Alice.

"My pleasure. Lead the way Sir Rabbit." said Hatter, standing now to brush off his pants and fully compose himself after being caught with his tongue down a seemingly previously unknown woman's mouth. Waiting for the others to bid goodbye to Caterpillar and Cheshire Cat, he tipepd his hat to them both and followed them to the door.

Out of the club they walked, and into the now rising moon. Alice looked up at the silvery light and sighed. This had just gotten more complicated with the addition of Hatter, both because he didn't know her identity and because of how she had felt sitting in the dark dance room with their arms around each other. She wasn't sure how to cope.

"Where are we going, Rabbit?" Hatter asked as they walked. Alice, taken out of her thoughts, found she also wanted to know.

"The Pale Realms." Rabbit replied. "But first, a place to rest, wash, and sober up I think." Rabbit added. "And a place to tell you the interesting news that Caterpillar let me in on."


	4. Caterpillar's Plot

hey guys! Sorry about having to take a bit, the site's been down.... anyway, the good news is I had time to make 4 AND 5 in the time it was down. I'm sorry to say that, despite the important of chapter 6, it will take a few days, because tomorrow my computer goes to the shop and won't be back until about Wednesday at the earliest... I've got the ideas for it written on paper, though, so, we'll see.

Anyway, enjoy the chapters and happy reading.

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She was dreaming.

She was sure she was. She knew because when she was last walking it had been in the darker areas of Wonderland Woods and now she was back at the shoreline where she had last seen Gryphon and Mock Turtle. The water was cool and clear as it always was, and she was watching it. She looked at her reflection. It was her, alright, wearing a white dress with thread sleeves again, only this time it seemed to be a flowing, light nightgown as opposed to clubbing wear. Her feet were bare. She looked around.

"But if I am where Gryphon and Mock Turtle should be, where are they?" she asked herself out loud.

A noise behind her caused her to turn. The trees were moving. Sliding gracefully, they seemed to walk into place as an obvious path through the area beyond her, going she couldn't tell where. She looked at it, curious. Stepping carefully to avoid her feet cracking one of the sticks below her, she approached the path, bent down and stood on her toes to see it at every height she could to try and tell what was down it, and then not noticing anything remarkable about the pattern of leaves on the ground she saw, walked over to one of the trees that had moved, and touched the bark.

"Alice..."

The sound almost made her jump, except it had sounded very far away, like a voice on the wind. She took her hand away and turned, looking around, walking in circles, trying to find where it ad come from.

"Alice..."

She spun again, and realized it seemed to be coming from far down the path. Even as she watched it, a sudden wind coming down the path picked up some leaves from the ground and blew them all around in a pirouetting circle and then sent them gently flying towards her. As the wind hit her face she heard again, "Alice..."

She took off down the path at a good jog. It was fast paced, but she wasn't all out sprinting; the voice had sounded far away. As she ran she realized she was heading in a completely opposite direction that she and Rabbit had ran before in order to get to the club. "Interesting thoughts to be thinking when running towards nowhere..." she said to herself.

The terrain was beginning to change. The trees where getting less wild, and seemed more taken care of. The flowers were getting less random and sparse and becoming more uniform, more vibrant in their colors. Still the voice was growing louder, and then, all of a sudden, rounding a turn in the trees where the area in front of her had been previously hidden by 2 large shrubs, she stopped.

There was a clearing in the area, surrounded by more trees cut into uniform circles and pyramids in a one-two-one pattern, was a house. It had a thatched roof, and seemed to be more than 2 stories tall, tilting oddly. To the side of the house was a fence made of red wood, it boarded only 1 side of the building. Curious still, Alice approached the structure.

"Alice."

The voice was louder than ever, and seemed to be coming from just inside the house. Cautious now, but brave, she walked to the house and opened the door.

It was dark at first, but with the light coming in from the windows and the soft, flickering light of the candles in the house that were lit, she began to make out where she was. Inside was a jumble of things: lamps, chairs, tables, cabinets, and clothes strewn about the room in what seemed to be decorating but looked more like clutter. Sitting on one of these chairs, next to the table, his hookah for once not present and glasses on his face, was Caterpillar. As her eyes adjusted to the filtered light that was in the room, she saw he was smiling at her.

"So, Alice, you heeded my call."

She closed the door behind her, finding it somehow made the room brighter and easier to see in, and sat down at one of the chairs around the table, opposite Caterpillar so she could have proper conversation. "Yes I did, Caterpillar. I wonder, what is this, where we are?"

"This is the previous house of White Rabbit, before he obtained the one he lives in now. Technically, it would be his future house, if we were aging where we were. In any case, this is the house he lived in when he had to be on site of the Court of Hearts for the Queen."

Alice looked around. She would never have recognized it. "What's happened to it, Caterpillar?"

He sighed. "Years of being unused, I'm afraid." He held up one of his many hands before she could ask the question about to come out of her opening mouth. "I'm sorry, Alice, but there is little time for such questions now, though I know it is one of the things that you do. I promise I will come to you again, and we will try and answer all that you have, but for now, I simply must say this.

"You may have noticed, Alice, that when you were small, you seemed to enter Wonderland in your dreams. I'm sure this made you think that Wonderland really was of your imagination, and that you weren't going there. I'm sure, then, that you tried endlessly to find the right pattern of events to ensure your return. Well, it is for this reason I have come to you at this time, at this very moment. Can you guess why?"

He watched as Alice sat at the table and thought, looking at the ceiling, then rubbing her chin, and then looking at the hand she had used to rub her chin, and then back at him. "I'm dreaming now, and if I'm dreaming right now it means that I couldn't have been dreaming when I came to this place."

"Very good, Alice." He gave an approving nod, and a pair of hands lightly clapped for her. "This place is, in fact, real and you are actually here. You have just never been here long enough before for the outside world to notice very much. Or even for you to notice very much. Also, before, things didn't exactly end well for you, so when you pushed yourself accidentally into your place in the other realm, you probably just assumed it to be a dream."

Alice remembered looking around suddenly and being in her lessons. She had just assumed she had fallen asleep and then woken up later. Now, as she thought about it, she realized that she didn't ever remember waking up, the usual feeling one gets when waking, and the repercussions of sleeping in class. It had always been about dreams for Alice, and now that she knew she wasn't dreaming up this place, she was brimming with questions.

"But then what is Wonderland exactly? And how did the ruling of it come about? How did everyone get here? How did I manage to be the only human to come here? Why is it some of you are good and loyal and some of you are wicked and vile? And does the order of things at all have any order to them, or can you just eat something because you can and you can't eat this because you can't and so then what does-"

"Alice, Alice! Calm down. You are going to lose your voice and your puzzler for puzzling so much." Caterpillar patted his brow gently with a handkerchief he had pulled from seemingly no where, wiping away the bead of sweat that had appeared there after Alice started to bombard him with questions. "Now, one of these I will answer now, and I'm glad you asked it because I was going to get to it. Some of these I will answer next time. A few have a lot to do with another. And still more you may want to know but you are not ready for the answer yet. No, don't even start," he said as she opened her mouth to protest. "you are a young lady, to be sure, and you have grown up nicely in the years it been, but from the way I saw you being nervous and unsure at the club last night you just aren't ready for some of the deeper things about this place. They will probably fuck with your mind worse than the Cheshire Cat walking on his head does.

"So then, the succession and how it came to be..." he pulled from empty space a small hookah and lit the coal. "I need to hurry, you will be waking soon, and then you have still more to hear and do, and I'll need the smoke's help to get this done quickly." Now, lit, he began to smoke. The expert that he was, it caught quickly, and in seconds the smoke was thick. "The cards were the natural rulers, since they had always been used to the court system before; it's what cards do. Why the hearts rule..." The smoke blew out, and it showed a pink figure counting money, and then a brown figure walking over and knocking it out, and ruling over it's keep. Then a black figure sneaked in, and murdered the brown figure, and ruled over both keeps. Then a red figure, walking slowly and gracefully, walked in and began a soundless conversation with the black figure. The black figure then gave both keeps and his own to the red figure, and the red figure added all three keeps to her property,

"I get it." said Alice. "Clubs trump Diamonds, Spades trump Clubs, Hearts trump all. Like the way life itself is, the ability to fight is more important than money, the ability to kill is greater than the ability to fight, and love can conquer even death itself."

"A saying truer than you think in this place." Caterpillar finished, and put the hookah away.

"Caterpillar, if I am dreaming, but you are here, where are Gryphon and Mock Turtle?" asked Alice, suddenly.

"Mock Turtle is with the duchess, having lunch, and grateful to not be lunch. The Gryphon is with the Queen fo Hearts."

"The Queen of-" Alice began, gasping.

The house began to shake.

"That's Rabbit, trying to wake you Alice. It's time you get up and face the world.

"But Caterpillar, one more thing! What do I tell Hatter?"

The house began to shake more violently, and his outline was blurring.

"You saw how the succession works. Do what Wonderland would do: ask your heart."Alice's eyes popped open, and she got that familiar dreamy feeling, with a flash of being awake and another wanting to feel the sweet feeling of sleep again before she had to punch Rabbit in the arm in order to get him to stop shaking her. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, finding herself to be indeed in a bed of moderate size. Getting up, she walked over to the dresser and, finding a brush and a mirror, began to brush her hair. She wasn't surprised at all to find she was wearing the same nightgown as she had been in the dream.

"You didn't have to punch me you know." said Rabbit, sounding very irritated and rubbing the spot on his arm where she'd punched him.

"You didn't have to keep shaking me after I'd opened my eyes." Alice countered, sticking her tongue out at herself in the mirror at the state of the make-up smeared on her face. She began to wash it off in the bowl of water that was sitting next to where the brush had been.

"Oh no you don't." said Rabbit, hopping lightly over to her. "If you don't want the Hatter to recognize you, you're going to have to disguise yourself somehow."

Alice sighed, drying off her face with a fluffy white towel, and looked at herself. Her eyes were shining softly beneath the blue surface, probably an after effect of the glow of the absinthe, and her hair was still a little dis-shelved. She liked the way her skin was smooth and white and clean, and she didn't want to gunk it up with make-up again. She had never been fond of the stuff, not to mention that even with tons of it on, as her mother insisted that 'that's how ladies wear it' she had never really thought her face looked any different. Her eyes were still framed with thick, dark lashes, her lips were still red, and her skin was still white. The only different she noticed was that, rather than the lightly lined look she had to her eyes and the rosy but not bruised look she had to her cheeks that she normally had, she thought she looked like a clown.

It was then that the remembered Caterpillar's words. 'Ask your heart'. What did her heart want her to do? She knew she didn't want to get caught trying to get the rule of Wonderland back under control and possibly killed, or worse, in the doing. She also knew that Hatter was her friend and she didn't want him to hurt. She sighed. If only there was a straight answer on how to avoid both those things.

"Alright, I'll do something about myself, but I get to chose this time." Alice said, grumbling.

"A deal if I ever heard one." Rabbit said, smiling. He walked over to the near-by sliding door and opened it. If he hadn't pointed it out, she never would have noticed it; it like the walls and the bed and everything in the room, save what Rabbit was wearing, was white. Inside were clothes that, oddly enough, were not all white."I suggest you choose something you wouldn't normally wear."

Alice walked over and began looking through the clothes. "Rabbit, if you don't mind me asking, where are we?"

"You don't remember?"

Alice thought. Her mind seemed to blank about an hour after she left the club. Everything that had happened last night, either way, was blurry and wavy. She shook her head.

"Well, the liquid fire they serve at that place does have that effect. We're at Hatter's house. You slept in his white room, I in the green. His room, well, I've never seen it so I can't tell you."

Alice felt a little ashamed, knowing she was having to lie to him in order to try and protect herself and Rabbit and yet he was sharing his rooms with her. Still, she thought, even if he is for our cause, which I feel he is, telling him who I am would only add him to this little circle of intrigue, and I wouldn't want Hatter tortured too if our secret were to come out.

Deciding not to mull over such things, she ruffled through the clothes.

"What name did you give him, by the way?"

"Dinah" she replied, shaking her head and making faces at several of the outfits in the closet. "Are they my size?"

"Yes." replied Rabbit, looking out a window at the garden below, where the tea party table still stood, ignoring the looks Alice was giving to some of the clothes. "I measured you to make the club dress fit last night, and obtained these while you and Hatter were asleep." She shook her head again. "Okay so this is my disguise, what are you going to do about your fur?" He tapped his head with one of his fingers. "It's all up here. I've just told him my winter coat came in." She rolled her eyes, something he saw and gave her a look for. "Alice, why don't you just concentrate on finding something so we can go down to breakfast?"

Finally she came across a deep burgundy, almost purple, dress. The sleeves were long, with cut outs made along the fabric for them in the shape of sideways diamonds and purple mesh showing through like small windows. The neck was wide, almost off her slim shoulders, but with enough hold that she was not nervous about wearing this for a long walk that could include running. It wasn't quite low enough to show cleavage from the look of it, but it seemed form fitting in the chest and torso, something she was grateful for; less things to get in the way and rip or tear if she had to climb a tree. The skirt was long and free flowing, going to just above her mid calf, but the fact that there was a long, free flowing purple sash the same color as the mesh around the hip of the dress where the skirt started made her think that, if she needed to, she could tie the skirt shorter in a hurry. To wear with it she chose black ankle boots that seemed they would be very comfortable, with 2 inch but wide heel and a zipper as opposed to laces for quick removal and dressing.

Shooing Rabbit out of the room, she quickly took off her nightgown, found her underwear in a place that looked to be where she would throw them, and then got dressed. She slipped on long stockings that fastened to skin hugging, silky mini shorts that she put on over her actual underwear so that her stockings would stay on even if she had to move quickly, and also so that if such movement caused her dress to blow up around her she didn't have to worry about her legs getting cold. Finally zipping up the ankle boots she walked over and looked in the mirror. The dress was indeed light, a material that she hadn't been aware of previously that seemed as though it would be warm in the cold and cool in the heat. It did indeed cling to her curves, making her moderately sized breasts look larger and her slim stomach look toned. "Definitely not something that I would be wearing otherwise." she grinned to herself, thinking of the odd poofy things her family had made her present herself in.

Sighing suddenly, she looked at her hair. It was still down, the tangles out but looking very odd having been in knots and ties for hours last night. It wasn't enough, the way it hung when down gave her away. The face she saw in the mirror, even with wavy hair, looked too much like her own. She reached for a ribbon, and then stopped herself. "No, he'll recognize that..." she looked forlorn for a moment, and then smiled. She put the ribbon under her hair and pulled it into a high ponytail, leaving some of the shorter strands still around her face. This she deftly braided into a long braid, which she tied at the end with a different ribbon, using the rest of the long satin band to fold her hair into a loose bun. With the hair at the side of her face and the few strands falling down from the lazy way she had tied it, it looked somewhat fancy but casual, and not a hairstyle Hatter had ever seen her in. Wetting her eyelids with some water from the bowl, she took a little bit of some purple make-up power Rabbit had left for her and applied it to her eyes. The flat base tone spread over her lid, making her eyes look smokey and match the dress more. The effect of the shadow alone was almost enough for her to not see herself in the mirror. To finish, she took a small brush and made another tattoo mark on her face, this time of a smiling moon and stars, adding swirling lines for pattern and so it looked like some stars were falling. Finishing with some color on her lips, and she looked more like a person from this world than the Alice she had ran in here as. She smiling at herself, and sticking out her tongue at herself, grabbed a traveling cloak in case of weather and walked out the door.

After a breakfast of eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, cheese, pancakes, and many other things that Hatter had placed on the large out door table, Rabbit sat up in his chair and clapped his hands. "Now then..." he said, looking straight at Alice, who had been trying to give a sleepy Dormouse a bit of cheese and bread left over by putting it on the edge of a teapot, and then to Hatter, who had been sitting back in the puffy chair at the head of the table ready to take a nap after breakfast and was now pulling himself up and straightening his hat. "I have a story to tell..."

"Dinah, you remembered Caterpillar and I going back into the back room, don't you? Well, while you were becoming acquainted with Hatter, here, I was talking to Caterpillar about what's going on with the current state of Wonderland. This is what I heard..."

_________________________

"....bunch of nonsense it is, all of it, really!" said Rabbit, his voice going back into his usual serious, somewhat whiny tone now that he was behind closed doors. They were going into the back room of Caterpillar's office, where no one at all would hear them except for themselves. "And I mean more nonsense than usual. I just can't guess what that Hare has in his head."

"You and I both, friend..." said Caterpillar, slipping on a pair of glasses and pulling out a smaller hookah. He patted it lovingly. "My very first one. Might I tempt you, Rabbit?"

"Why not?" Rabbit groaned, as he eased into a chair. "I could use some relaxing." Caterpillar lit it, getting it started, and then he too eased into a chair, and allowed Rabbit to start hitting it himself. "Very good smoke, Caterpillar. A wine base?"

"On the spot as always." said Caterpillar, acknowledging his guess. "But I digress. Yes, this is nonsense. This is indeed, though I am loathe to say, very fucked up shit.

"What have you heard so far, Rabbit?"

"Well," Rabbit said, his voice sounding very deep as he began to speak while exhaling smoke. "I heard March Hare is with Humpty Dumpty in the Land of Fire and Brimstone. The Vale of Tears seems to be the place spilling the beans on that, probably due to the Plantasmagoras that the Queen used to employ. You know how those things are, floating around here and there, never having anything to do ever since Her Majesty started dealing with her subject's herself, that is, sending them off to the Spades. They always seem to show up where you least expect them...

"I've also heard, for a while now and not just from Mock Turtle, that civil war is close at hand. What I didn't expect, though, was it's not the Spades I heard who are trying to get claim of the throne, but the Clubs. Now, this perplexes me, Caterpillar. Why is it that the Clubs, who are third down the line, suddenly so interested in ruling Wonderland?"

"Simple, Rabbit." he said, done taking the puff Rabbit had offered him after he'd begun to answer Caterpillar's question, and then handing it back to Rabbit so Rabbit could enjoy while Caterpillar spoke. "They believe the have the most resources. The Spades, after all, have power, but they don't have the army that the Clubs have."

"You mean the Suit?" inquired Rabbit. "Each set has the same number of Card Guards, though. What does that have to do with it?"

"For one, the rule has been that those above can borrow from those below. This rule was always just thought of before as 'The Queen of Hearts can use all the cards from all the courts'. However, with the Queen gone, that doesn't happen anymore. The Spades don't take advantage of this; they're too busy sharpening their axes and slicing off the heads of those the Queen wanted dead. Would you believe that after all this time they've only gotten through half of the prisoners in the dungeon?"

"Shit..." said Rabbit, looking at the ceiling at the thought of just how many people the Queen must have sentenced to death. "It's amazing there's still a huge population in this area..."

Caterpillar nodded. "In any case, the Spades don't care. The Clubs do. They've got their card guards, and the Diamond guards. The Diamond guards, as you know, are itching to feel useful again. It's been too long without a fight and they want action. The Clubs snuck into their court and under the shadows spoke of their plan and the Diamonds were in. Thank you." he added to Rabbit, who was handing him back the pipe.

"So it really is going to go to war..." Rabbit said reverently, watching the smoke waft through the air. "I think I need a drink."

"I'll get Cat in here. He's on our side."

Three of his many hands reached to the side and pressed three buttons. "This is how he knows it's me; no one else would be able to do this at once, and the sensors recognize if I'm being forced or not."

Cheshire Cat, smiling his usual shadowed but glowing smile, walked into the room through the wall. "What can I do for you, friends?"

"A round of Golden Dragon, and how is Alice holding up?" inquired Caterpillar.

"Two shots down, and she seems to be swaying back and forth. I won't be giving her a third."

"See if you can get someone to help her out. Is anyone around?"

"I'm sure I can round someone up. Be back in a minute."

Cheshire Cat walked back through the wall, and Rabbit and Caterpillar, content with waiting the few moments it would take, passed the hookah pipe back and forth to each other, each blowing out interesting pictures for the other to look at. Cheshire Cat came back, walking on his hind legs now, a tray held above his head holding a bottle filled with shining liquid like it was lit from within, and 2 glasses, larger than the shot glasses Alice had been drinking out of. He placed the tray down, and bowed to his friends.

"She is safe now, I had a talk with Hatter to keep an eye on Alice, saying that I didn't want another girl in this place to end up in Bill's little harem. It was innocent enough, and he bought it. In any case, enjoy." With his cat eye's shining and his smile wide, he walked back on all fours, his purple fur becoming momentarily yellow as he transcended through the wall.

"Is the Hatter with us or against us?" asked Rabbit, pouring himself and Caterpillar some of the golden liquid which flowed into the glass like a dragon's flight.

"For us, we think." said Caterpillar, signaling Rabbit when to stop and taking a sip of the harsh but sweet substance. "March Hare was, yes, his friend and comrade, but there was a falling out between them when Hatter found out what March Hare was doing. Hatter thought that the search for such power was wrong, wrong in a way that would never do. He didn't want the order of Wonderland, the little that there is, to be upset. March Hare didn't care. He saw a chance and wanted to take it. Hatter asked him not to do it, that it would set them against each other, asking him what he cared more about, his home and his friends or the mad idea of power. In the end, the March Hare, driven truly insane with greed for power and with hate that the person he had been friends with for so long and now, in his enraged and tortured mind was turning against him. He fought the Hatter, cursing the day they'd met, and saying that he would gladly trade in the years they'd known each other for one day wearing the crown. I heard the Hatter's words of pain from my home in the Fungiferous Flora." The Rabbit, listening to this story with a stony look on his face, watched as the smoke that Caterpillar blew out of his mouth in this pause took the shape of a man bent in anguish as another figure, tall, with legs like his own but larger and much more crooked, large ears, and even in the smoke a wild look on his face, brought his arm up and then down quickly on the kneeling man's face. The blow caused the kneeling man to fall over onto the floor. Rabbit looked away. "That's sick." his voice was trembling with anger at March Hare. "I was at their tea parties. The Hatter shared his home, his food, and his friendship with March Hare and... That is sick."

"You learned earleir there was to be war." Caterpillar said, his voice quiet. "It is more serious than you think."

"How much more serious can it be, Caterpillar?" White Rabbit said, trying to keep his voice down so the people outside the room wasn't aware if their conversation.

"You have forgotten that the Clubs control the Pale Realm. They intend to use the chess piece's queens in order to help their own wage war."

Rabbit thought of what that meant, the horror that could happen, and made a sound, like a panicked groan. He stopped, got a hold of himself, and after a moment of thought began again, this time uttering words. "The White Queen I am not as worried about. She plays with a fair hand. The Red Queen..." Rabbit shuttered, he could not go on.

"A vicious woman... Hollow and empty, devoid of mercy. She would fight simply to fight. The only thing that keeps her in check is her husband, the Red King. Even more firey than his wife, without his wife's ability to rush into battle, but without his wife's control of character. I know, Rabbit." Caterpillar said, his voice dull and toneless. "You forget, I once lived next to the Pale Realm."

"Yes, before Alice caused time to go backwards for us." Rabbit added, and downed the rest of the glass in one gulp. "We owe so much to that girl."

"More than she knows." added Caterpillar, his voice both admiring and rearguardful.

"Will you ever tell her?" asked Rabbit, beginning to stand.

"One day at a time with matters as lofty as that." answered Caterpillar, wiping off his mouth with a cloth from the drink. "But, come. The hour grows late, and though my club will be open for many more hours, you will have to have an early start tomorrow for the Pale Realms to sort this all out."

"Agreed" nodded Rabbit, sounding more like himself. As they walked to the door to the main room, Rabbit turned back to Caterpillar. "What do you think will happen if either of the sides to the chess boards learn of Alice's identity before we've left?"

"The same thing that always happens when people with power and influence want more power and influence and someone is in the way." Caterpillar remarked before opening the door. "Lots of trouble for all parties involved."


	5. the pale realm

authors note: remember, this will be the last chapter for a couple days. I'll try to have the next one as soon as I can. Also, thank you very much for your review; it's good to know you enjoy my story as much as I do.

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They had been walking for what seemed forever. Alice knew they were heading South, by the way the sun hung in the sky. She was ingesting everything; the story Rabbit had told her of what had passed, the way Hatter had been incredibly quiet at the re-telling of his last meeting with March Hare. The Rabbit had omitted the parts about Alice being who she was, and about the Cheshire Cat sending Hatter to her rescue, but the rest he had said with great urgency.

Knowing that there was more than just the throne at stake had a strange effect on Alice; it was like a part of her was angry about something. She couldn't tell what yet, but it was there, a strange feeling that somehow this whole situation with the Clubs uprising and the March Hare going against his friend and home was a personal offense to her. She knew she had to go to the Pale Realm and try and sway the chess pieces against a War. She also knew they would probably have no luck at all with the Red Queen; even if she wasn't feeling like murder that day Alice knew that she would want to do little but hurl vague and senseless insults at all involved. No, the White Queen was definitely the way to go- besides, the white pieces move first.

She pretended to falter slightly on a large tree root so that she would fall in with White Rabbit. "What's the plan should they find out who I am?" she whispered, careful to keep her voice low even as Hatter turned his head to make sure the 2 were alright.

"Running is a good suggestion." remarked Rabbit under his breath and pulled her lightly to her feet.

She was grateful for her choice of clothing at the moment. The sun was hot but the air was getting more and more chill as they walked. She threw her cloak on over her shoulders and looked at the others to see if their clothing was working for them as well. Hatter had dressed more reserved today, reserved for him at the least. His coat was golden brown and long, his pants a matching sort of deep olive tone, complimenting nicely the bottle green of his vest and eyes. He wore the same hat as he had last night and Alice wondered if he ever changed it. When Alice got closer, she noticed that though both pants and coat appeared to be solid color, it was actually a swirled pattern of lines like the decoration around her eyes that simply looked solid from any distance further than about 5 feet. White Rabbit's coat of fur looked thicker than normal, and on his feet were interesting sort of shoes that made it so the soft pads of his feet were protected. He had exchanged his black jacket for a white one he found in Alice's room, but the black vest with a red tie remained. Alice noticed that, in addition to making it easier for Rabbit to walk on his hind legs rather than simply hop, it also made his footfalls soundless. "So he's dressed for contention too" Alice said to herself under her breath.

The air was definitely getting colder. Alice thought she saw something falling and pulled up her hood to protect her face, then saw what it was as it fell on her sleeve: a white, soft thing, with 6 sides and barely bigger than a speck.

"Snowflakes?" asked Alice, her voice full of her obvious wonder.

"The Pale Realm is huge." the White Rabbit informed her, paying closer attention to the ground as it was now slick. "While the red side of the chess board is closer to the infernos of The Land of Fire and Brimstone, the white side is set near the Great Ice Caverns. An Endless Sea separates the two sides from each other."

"If it's endless, how do the pieces get across to each side?" asked Alice suddenly, knowing that pieces have to cross for either side to be a victor.

Rabbit looked back at her sternly and Alice realized she'd slipped; that was exactly the sort of question she was known to ask. Hatter, luckily, didn't catch on. "It's only endless longways" he called back to her, walking ahead of her carefully up an icy hill. "The distance across from red side to white side is less than 800 feet, and actually fairly easy to cross. You know," he added, "for crossing a sea."

They reached the top of the hill and stopped for a moment. While the other 2 were catching their breath, Alice momentarily lost hers at the view. They were looking down on a patchwork of white and black. The buildings were all white, barely shadowed even in the doorways. Spires seemed to reach endlessly into the foggy white hanging in the air. There were many, many levels to the castle, and pavilion, from what she could see. Staircases of all heights connected buildings and doors in intricate ways. What made Alice stare, though, was the geometry of it all; it was wrong. Hallways seemed to lead no where. Staircases endless suddenly without leading to any sort of level. Open doors had no rooms on the other side, only more brick wall. The brick of the wall, too, was odd; where in her world the brick was horizontal, this brick was vertical. The effect was both dramatic and maddening. The whole thing was set at the bottom of a slope that, like the brick, seemed to go upwards despite that all the roads to it lead down.

Alice looked at the two of them. Rabbit seemed anxious, Hatter reserved. 'What are they thinking?' she wondered inwardly. Out loud she asked, "ready?"

"Yes." said Hatter. Rabbit nodded. "It's time."

The decent was long, the castle seemed closer than it was. They didn't appear to be making any progress until all of a sudden they were in the courtyard standing before a large platform on which a rook stood. Alice knew it was a rook because the figure had large, muscular arms and the base of the piece seemed like a castle. His face was deeply chiseled, like he'd been through lots of battles.

"Who enters here?" his deep voice sounded old, like the walls of an ancient castle.

White Rabbit stepped forward. "Three travelers wishing conference with the King and Queen."

"Names please." It sounded more like a command than a request.

"Rabbit, Dinah, and Hatter."

"One moment."

The rook turned and then slid sideways, seemingly into no where. They looked at each other, and then waited. Hatter had begin tapping his foot when the rook slid back into view.

"Follow me."

This time the rook walked down to their level from the platform and then took off in a straight line for deeper into the great patchwork maze. As they walked, Alice saw other pieces, what looked to be pawns, standing at attention at varying levels and doors. As they got closer, this changed to knights, then bishops, and finally, after having gone through a room where the staircases seemed to never end, and down a hallway that looked into a room that she wasn't sure if a mirror stood at the far wall or if it was built as an exact replica down the middle, they arrived in the throne room.

Here the odd way the brick was laid in the walls and the endless black and white of the chessboard was most apparent; the whole room seemed to tunnel to Alice, like the floors and the walls were moving to a rhythm of it's own. On the walls in varying points were frames of paintings, but instead of pictures inside they were solid blocks of black or white. There was no furniture in the room at all, instead the Queen stood with the King at the back of the room. The effect of this was that the room itself, with each little heartbeat, seemed to be trying to move closer to it's rulers. Yet, even as Alice seemed to be getting taller and smaller and closer to nothing at all, she wasn't moving.

"What brings you to my palace?" A female voice whispered, but in this room it rolled until it thundered in echoes. Alice resisted covering her ears and instead looked interested at the Queen whose mouth Alice had not seen move.

"We wish to have conference with you." White Rabbit said, and motioned for the three of them to kneel.

"It appears you already have conference." A male voice whispered this time, his voice also echoing with every syllable. Alice frowned. She was sure she hadn't seen him speak...

"Would you then hear what we have to say, Majesties?" Rabbit inquired, still kneeling.

"It is the duty and honor of a King or Queen to hear what their subjects have to say, and to know what advice or news travelers have to offer us." The Queen had spoken again, this time Alice was sure of it; her face had not moved. Then it hit her.

Though the King and Queen were both regally dressed in white outfits with varying mirrored and clashing lines of black, the way she would expect a chess piece royal to be dressed, and though their hair and crowns were beautiful and shining, their faces were masks. A closer inspection revealed the Queen's mask to be of a smiling woman's face, with the lips not quite joining at the corners, and the whites and darks of the eyes being inverted. The King's was of a man who, while he wasn't frowning, wasn't smiling either. His lips, too, didn't touch at the corners, but while his wife's eyes were simply reversed, his had the outline and no inner at all. Both had tattoos on their faces somewhat like Alice had painted on hers, the Queen's on the right, the King's on the left. They started right below the eye, and went down to the mouth. On the other side of each mouth were lines that looked as though that side of the mouth was smiling or frowning so severely it was crinkling the skin. The Queen's tattoo was of small spikes and spirals that seemed to start as part of her lower eyelashes and then spread and crack on her face, while the King's were of arrows, curved and split, curling a little at the ends. Alice wasn't sure if she felt awed or terrified.

"Your Majesties," began Rabbit, now getting up from his kneel, "it has come to our attention that your ruling suit of cards, the Clubs, want to start a civil war in wonderland and are even training troops for it now. March Hare is one of the figures at the center of all and I fear that he wants to take the throne away from any suit of cards at all. This can only get worse. Your Majesty, we have traveled here to ask... Do you know of the Clubs' plans?"

"Oh yes..." the Queen's voice almost did sound like a whisper now. "I know of them."

"Do... Do your majesties plan to join with the Clubs?"

"Do not worry yourself about what we are planning or not, Rabbit." spoke the King, stepping forward and to the side to place his hand on the Queen's small shoulder, making her turn her head to look up at him and then back at the guests. Then Alice felt him smile. "I can certainly tell you, though, that we are not going to be working with the Clubs in any plans of war."

Rabbit sighed in relief, and then hurriedly bowed to the King and Queen. "Well, thank you for that. Now, if it pleases your Majesty, my friends and I will be off. We wish to take your sentiments of peace to the red side of the board and see if we can sway the Red Queen from war as well."

"A feat deserving of honor, if completed." the White King's voice echoed dryly in the room. "But first, Guests, would you, perhaps stay and take dinner with us? I know my Queen and I would be honored."

"Yes." the Queen's usual calm voice sounded almost insistent. "Since you have taken such care to tell us of the Clubs... behavior."

Rabbit answered for them, as usual in this conversation. "We would be honored."

___________________________

"Rabbit I really don't know about this." said Alice, pacing back and forth in a small white room adorned with couches and beds.

They had been lead here after the meeting, the door closed behind them, and pawn guards stationed to guard their door. Alice had gotten a good look at the pawns before they had put her into the room with the others. They were an armored torso with arms folded and a face hidden underneath a hood; not much in the way of chess pieces, but more than enough to take her out if she challenged them to be sure. The room itself had large windows overlooking the land, but even this did nothing to ease her mind; the way the ground forever repeated itself and the way the buildings seemed to dart up at odd angles, end abruptly, and start without a beginning was like everything else in the castle and room. There were, however, varying pools of water which she imagined was the sea leaking in that wasn't mirrored or black and white but it didn't matter. The sight outside the window only added to the feeling that they were all trapped here.

"A- Dinah" Rabbit quickly caught himself before Hatter noticed. "What did you want me to do? Refuse an invitation from royalty?"

"If it came to it, yes." Alice said, still pacing. From the corner of her mind she wondered why her boots weren't making clicking noises on the floor.

"Don't you realize what could have happened?" Rabbit began even more shrilly than usual.

"Surely nothing worse than being locked in a room." Alice said, spinning to look him in the eyes as she spoke. Rabbit stopped trying to argue then; he had seen Alice's eyes beneath the hood she still wore over her hair, and they were full of fear.

"Don't worry so much." Hatter said, stretched out on one of the couches and with the brim of his hat pulled down over his eyes. "In a few hours we'll be out of here and on our way to the red side of the game with the white King and Queens' blessings and put an end to all this. Then the war will be averted and we can all go back to my place for drinking and laughter, alright?"

"It simply can't be that easy..." muttered Alice under her breath. A touch on her arm made her look to the side. It was Rabbit, his eyes saying what his mouth was not, that he had seen that she was scared, and that he thought it would be alright. She sighed, and nodded to her friend.

"Alright."

It had been hours. The sun was beginning to set, and still they had not been let out of the room. Rabbit and Hatter had dined on the dinner that had been brought them, but Alice had not had any of it, choosing instead fo to back to pacing. She was nervous, and the feeling was only growing. Why did the royalty wear masks? What were they trying to hide? Was it a mark of prestige, or was it so no one knew their motives? She didn't trust this. Any of this.

She stopped pacing so suddenly that Hatter woke up from his nap and Rabbit looked up from his reading of a paper. "I'm going to get out of here."

"Dinah you can't." Hatter said, his voice sounding lazy from sleep. "There are pawns outside the door, and besides, we're in a land that we're not familiar to. How are we to find out way?"

"I'll deal with the pawns." Alice was hurrying about the room, collecting a long knife with a handle and tucking it in her boot on the inside of her leg so no one would see it despite the short length of leather to hide it. "And I've seen the layout of this place. It may look off, but the whole thing is a trap made to confuse. It's actually a copy straight down the middle. I can easy find my way back to the throne room."

"You can't do that-" but she was already opening the door. As she did, the two pawns rushed at her, but she was too quick for them. In moments they were on the floor bleeding from their throats.

Rabbit stood and stared for a moment, in total shock, before he found his voice again. He was close to completely losing it and his voice was close to shrieking as he rent his hair. "You fucking killed them! I can't believe you fucking killed them!"

"How did you do that?" Hatter's voice was more in wonder than anything else.

"I'm used to having to be fast to keep up with someone who's always running late." Alice said, her voice grim as she looked both ways down the hallway, and then pulled the bodies into the room. It was easy, they were light. This only caused Rabbit to shriek louder. "Slap him for me, will you?" From behind her back, the sound of a loud slap, an ow, and then as she turned the view of Hatter putting his glove back on and Rabbit shaking his head.

"What just happened?" asked Rabbit, rubbing his face with a furry paw.

"We're getting out of here."

Alice tiptoed down the hallways, though she realized early on she didn't really need to; none of the shoes they wore made any sound on the floors. The hallways were now full of shadows in the setting sun, and it was easy to sneak past the rooks and knights as they found their way to the great hall. There, in the shadows as they were, eternally stood the king and queen, silent but aware. The room seemed to pulse more than just lightly sway now, but Alice was strong in her resolve.

"You have broken your word to us, Majesties." Alice said, her voice clear and brave in the room that seemed to swallow any sound not uttered by the Graces standing before her.

"We gave no word that we would not station guards outside your door." the Queen's whisper was even louder now than it had been before. "We said we would let you leave. We did not tell you when or in what order."

"Order?" Alice inquired. "Why should that matter?"

"You have someone useful among you."

Rabbit looked at Alice, and the worry was more apparent on his face. "They know" he whispered.

"Well of course we know."

"But how did you find out?" Rabbit asked, standing in front of Alice as if to protect her from them. "We were careful to disguise-"

"Careful? Is this what you call careful? Introducing him as soon as you walk into our midst? My you are idiots." The Queen's voice was almost a roar in the patched room. Rabbit and Alice looked at each other, no longer sure what they were talking about.

"I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're speaking of." Alice affirmed.

"Don't you?" Her voice was back to a whisper that rolled like thunder. "Hatter was friends with March Hare, was he not?" They looked back at Hatter who was now obviously white even in the semi-darkness. "We told you we did not plan to go with the Clubs into war. What we did not say was that we ourselves wish to go into war." The Queen's voice was becoming dark, more of a hiss than a speaking voice. "We wish to rule Wonderland ourselves. We grow tired of this insipid little game between that oaf and her weak husband. We want to spread our reign to all across the area." Her voice was now a demonic growl, and the floor and walls of the room seemed to writhe. "For that we need Hatter. We planned to go out and capture him, to bring him back and trade him to March Hare as a kind of torture toy; it is well known of March Hare's hate for Hatter in these parts." Alice saw Hatter's face break, and there was a pang in her chest at the sight. "I'm sure he would gladly trade his allegiance and help for the chance to rip Hatter apart bit by agonizing bit."

"If you're so up to just destroying us, why did you tell us all this then?" Alice's voice was full of a defiance she no longer felt. Now she only felt crushed from seeing the fear on Rabbit's face and the utter pain on Hatters.

"My dear girl..." the Queen's voice was back to her feminine one, and full of a sick, oily caress that made Alice's stomach drop. "Do you really think we intended to let you live past this evening?"

Alice didn't even think. She grabbed her friends' hands and ran, pulling them behind her. The air was filled with the mingled laughter of a man and a woman, and the ground changed. Doors slammed shut, pathways closed, and staircases became slick. One became slick even as they were running down it, and it was only an amazing leap from Rabbit to the floor on the side of the stairs that kept them from sliding down to the spikes that had screamed up from the base of the slide to meet them.

Precious minutes past. Each time they thought they had outrun the guards and were almost out of the castle, they found themselves surrounded once more, and narrowly escaped again. Finally they were panting, hiding behind what little cover they could find.

"It's no use!" Hatter exclaimed, panting. "It's like the ground itself obeys them."

"It probably does." Alice lamented, remembering how the pulse of the floor had changed and grown stronger with the emotions and distance involving the King and Queen.

"Then there's no way out of here. Maybe if I just turn myself in, they'll let you two escape."

"Don't even think about it, Hatter." Alice said, gripping his shoulders. She looked down and then got close to him. "Look, less than a day ago you were willing to take a chance and ask a girl you did not know to kiss you, to tell her your story and then to join her on her quest. I know you are braver and smarter than to give up without a fight."

Hatter was still trying to catch his breathe, but with her words and nodded and agreed. "Okay. I'm game. What's the plan?"

Alice looked around the corner and then pulled her head back quickly. The whole area seemed to be alive, except for one place...

"The water." her voice was soft and excited. "There's pools of water here, my guess is from where the sea leaks in through the walls. If we were able to reach one of these places, we could jump down, find the hole, and swim out to open ocean."

She looked at the others for a reaction. Hatter seemed ready. Rabbit was unsure. "Well if it's the only plan we've got..."

"It is." Alice settled, and then held up her hand. "Not yet... now." with a wave of her hand a quick movement, they were out and running for the nearest water. The pieces, instantly guessing what they were trying, did everything they could to stop them.

"Don't slow down! Hurry!" Spears were flying past her head, and she felt something snack her cloak. Hurriedly she slipped it off and, with an anguished scream behind her they jumped into the water.

It was dark and cool in the area beneath the floor, and with only a few seconds of air to work with and find the hole, they swam down quickly to the bottom of the floor. There they found an opening wide enough, and it was Rabbit who pushed himself through first. Hatter followed, and then Alice, who was momentarily stuck by a spear falling into the water and snagging her clothes, then quickly pulled the speak from the ground without even a tear in the wet flowing fabric, spilled out into the Endless Sea and then pushed herself as hard as she could for the surface. Splashing like a fish, she rose up from the surf, treading water before throwing herself on the shore, gasping. She looked back at the surface of the water and saw a sea of stars in a night sky, and was amazed that the sun had not quite set yet; that was just how the water was. But she was in no shape to marvel at such things now, and, coughing and gagging up water, stood up.

Their rest was short lived. The sounds of the near-by Pale Realm were coming closer, and without even a look at her friends, she took off. Sounds of footsteps behind her told her that her comrades were close behind. Jumping with energy she did not feel over the roots and branches around the area, she raced like a madman through the forest. The ribbon in her hair, wet with water and slapping in her face with the wind, was breaking her sight. She ripped it form her hair and allowed her blond locks to blow behind her, free and no longer in her eyes.

They ran until they simply could not anymore. When they finally stopped, there was obviously more than 5 miles between them and the Pale Realms, a good distance since the chess pieces traveled slowly and could not go far outside their area. The snow had long since stopped, the air was warm, and the leaves were shining green in the sinking sun.

She turned to greet her friends, finding her hair and clothes dry. "That was close, wasn't it? At least we're not wet anymore."

Rabbit was looking shocked and aghast at Alice and Hatter, who's face Alice could not see from the way he was standing. Looking at his back and at Rabbit's face with a question, she stalled all utterances when she heard Hatter's words.

"Your coat, Rabbit... It's still white... Even away from the cold" Hatter bent down to pick up something Rabbit had dropped when they had finally stopped running. It was a gold pocket watch. "A very merry unbirthday..." Hatter said remotely, remembering. He turned to Alice, and the look on Rabbit's face turned from shock to distress. Wondering why Hatter was looking at her with something mingling hope, troubled, and dumbfounded, she understood when she caught a look at herself in a small pool of water, turned into a mirror by the setting light.

Though she was still wearing a dress not like anything Hatter would have ever seen her in, her hair had dried long and straight, and the sea water and then wind had long wiped off any make-up or marks she had made on her face. She looked exactly as she had looked that morning when she woke: an older version of the girl who's curiosity had once lead her to have a tea party in a strange land.

She turned back to Hatter, a soft wind blowing her hair softly and ruffling the bottoms of Hatter's coat. Alice bit her lip and folded her arms under her chest, waiting for everything to click into place.

Hatter looked at her, hard, then back at White Rabbit, realizing fully who he was, then at the pocket watch in his hand, and then at the way that the wind and the flush from running made the woman before him look even more like the girl he had known as a younger, and yet somehow older man.

His voice was the only sound in the clearing.

".....Alice?"


	6. coming out of the woodwork

Author's note: This is my longest chapter so far, and considering how 5 chapters in I was at 20,000+ words, that's saying something. I've also gone back and made 'from one madness to another', aka, chapter 1, better. I hope you enjoy! also, if anyone has any requests for craziness they might want to see, I can probably throw it in there.

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Rabbit had been the first to realize that there was no getting them to help with the collecting of firewood and setting up a camp immediately. Immediately after Hatter had uttered Alice's name he had made a small sort of squeak sound and with a few sort of well-ahs and a couple hmmm-oh's he had begun to look around for a few large branches and a bunch of short ones to ensure a tent and a place to sleep. After a few moments, Hatter and Alice too had joined the search, Alice blushing while Hatter pale.

After the sticks collected and the fire built, they had manged to construct a large lean-to from a few of the low laying branches of the trees and the longer sticks with Hatter's coat for a cloth cover. Inwardly, Alice had been unsure of this; he was a thin and tall man and not exactly the sort of built who's clothes are meant for tents. However, being Hatter's, it stretched beyond itself easily and made a fine tarp.

Rabbit had laid down quickly, it bad been a very long day for him. Hatter made some excuse to check the area and went off by himself, leaving Alice alone. She sat close to the fire, wishing she hadn't had to loose her cloak to escape the knights back in the Pale Realm. It wasn't that she was cold, she just wished she had some sort of thing to use as a blanket like she had back home.

Home.

Calling that place her home sounded cold and alien to her. She sighed. She remembered how much she had hated this place the first time she was here. She had been a child then, though, and was scared to be anywhere but what she'd known. After she was out, and realized everything was fine, she had wanted nothing else for weeks but to have tea with Hatter. Hindsight has 20/20 vision, and she couldn't believe she had let this amazing place get away so soon, since it could never hurt her. Now she knew it was an actual place, and it could actually hurt her, and while she wasn't scared or angry about it, it made her think. Rabbit said time didn't pass here as long as she was here. What about the world she had left from? It had been nearly 2 days now, people were probably beginning to notice. Would they be scared? What if when she came back, they asked where she'd been? What lie would she tell them that wouldn't end up in lots of speculation? The truth would only cause her to be locked in a mad house. Or worse... Wonderland found out...

She heard a crack of leaves and turned her head, seeing Hatter walking back into the clearing they'd made. Without his coat on he was wearing a white silk shirt and a bottle green vest. His shirt looked orange in the firelight, and his eyes were glinting. He looked so alive. How could I ever think these people were in my head? she thought to herself. Realizing she was starring, she looked back at the fire. Suddenly embarrassed, she wrapped her arms tightly around herself, and hung her head. The embarrassment was giving way to shame.

Hatter sat down next to her, something she felt more than saw. A few moments of silence and then she spoke.

"You must hate me." Her voice sounded soft and hurt, so different from the voice she'd used in defiance a few short hours ago. Hatter looked at her in surprise.

"No, no... I could never hate you. Why do you think that?"

"I lied to you for so long..." she shook her head, trying not to cry. "I got you into such trouble with the chess pieces, took you from your home, almost got you handed over to someone who would want nothing more than to hurt you... And the first time I see you again in years, right after you've saved me from being raped in a bar, what do I do but give you a fake name."

"Yeah who's name was that anyway?" he asked, his voice sounding a bit whimsical.

She chuckled, half dry sobbing. "My cat's name."

He did laugh then, quietly though, so as not to wake Rabbit. She joined him, drying her eyes, and looked at him then. He was smiling, his face warm. It made her feel fuzzy inside, and then she decided to be a bit more serious.

"You know... I was just thinking before you walked up about home... About how it's been 2 days now and they must be noticing my absence... I know the last time I was here I acted so angry with you and with everything but... To be honest... The only thing I really ever liked about it there was my cat."

"We have cats here too, you know." he mused gently.

"You do?" her voice perking up.

"We do. I have a cat, as a matter of fact. You just haven't seen her yet."

"I'd love to."

"After this is all over I'll show her off to you." He leaned back to look at the firelight dancing on the treetops. She looked at him, and then back at the ground thinking. He wanted a minute, and then asked.

"What is it, Alice?"

"You kissed me back at the club."

"Ah yes, sorry about that." he said, sort of rubbing the back of his head. "It was probably the alcohol talking."

"It's fine, that's not what I'm talking about. It's just... Would you have still kissed me if you'd known who I was?"

"Well, I don't know Alice. I mean, it's not that you're unattractive or unkissable, far from it. It's just... You're special."

"What do you mean?"

"Alice, I've never met anyone like you. And I don't just mean you're possibly the only 100% human in this place, I've really never met anyone who acts or talks like you before. It throws me off, it always has. And now you've grown up and we're somehow around the same age and you're so different now... Anything I knew or guessed about you then I have no idea if it still holds true today."

She was quiet, listening to his words, looking at the fire. He sat up now, and put an arm around her, pulling her close to him. She could hear his heartbeat and it comforted her. She put one of her arms around him as well, and stayed like that. When she spoke, her voice was back to normal, but soft.

"Have I really changed so much?"

He thought for a moment, nuzzling the top of her head with his. "You smiled more. You seem so stressed now."

"Yes but that could be the situation we're in right now."

"True."

Another few moments of only the sound of the fire, then.

"Is anything about me recognizable?"

He breathed out, straightening as he did to stretch, and then turned to look at her, cupping her chin in his hands to get a good look at her. She watched his eyes the few seconds he was searching her face, amazed by how beautiful they looked right now.

"Your hair still wants cutting."

She laughed with him quietly, and he ran his free hand through her hair, leaning closer to her, his voice getting little more than a whisper.

"You have the same eyes that are alive with wonder."

He was inches from her now. Her legs and arms felt weak.

"I still don't want to be without you..."

His mouth was hot, but not a burning kind of heat, the kind that beckoned her and sent itself through her whole body, traveling down her spine and then back up into her head, burying itself deep inside of her. She found that the kiss was somehow harder to focus on without the aide of alcohol, but then it was hard to focus on anything. All she knew was a wonderful feeling of numbing exhilaration. Somewhere on the edge of her being she was dimly aware that the taste of Hatter's lips and tongue and the deft way he was kissing her was making her feel something, a different sort of heat, getting oddly intense, and making her grip his clothes with new desperation and yet somehow letting her slip further and further into the feeling of his captivating body so close to hers...

"I hate to interrupt what promises to get quite interesting very quickly, but I'm afraid It's for the best."

Hatter and Alice jumped and turned, seeing up in a near-by tree. There looking even more smug with himself than usual was the Cheshire Cat. The hot feeling was turning quickly to annoyance and anger as whatever was happening to her wanted desperately to be completed before stopping.

"Dammit Cat must every time we kiss something important jump in the way?" Hatter asked, saying it so loud Rabbit woke up from his sleep.

"I told you I hate to burst your bubble, but I have to. The Tweedles are coming this way, and if you don't want to be discovered it would be wise if you do as I'm doing and hide in the tree immediately. And put out that fire."

Alice sat and stared for a minute, confused, but Hatter was already banking the fire. She felt something grab her shoulder and Hatter quietly but hurridly motioned for her to grab what little bits of food they had with them and put them back into Rabbit's back. Rabbit, for his part, was busy taking down the tree branches and making it look like a regular area of the forest. With Cat keeping watch, they quickly found a tree near-by his and shimmied up, a feat much harder in the darkness but one they managed anyway. Cat, seeing them struggle, momentarily made his eyes shine like torches. With this last little help they were all secure up high and out of sight, and Cat had made himself invisible once more.

A few moments passed in what Alice felt to be nervous silence. She was pressed close to Hatter, there not being a lot of room in the trees around here, and could hear his heart racing. She was going to ask what was so bad about the Tweedles when the sound of people approaching made her look down carefully.

Stepping into the area where they hid were 2 people of a rather diminutive height, dressed the same way and wearing each a glove on the opposite hand as the other. One appeared to be, in this light, wearing white and one black. From what she could tell, their hair was just under shoulder length, with small bangs and red, but with either white or black tips. They were laughing and singing as they walked.

"Why they're only children." Alice whispered under her breath.

"Don't be fooled." answered Rabbit, almost as close to them as she was to Hatter. "The Tweedles are dangerous; they have a warped sence of morals that drive them to do whatever they want. And currently what they want to do is please their employer."

"Who's their employer?" Alice asked.

"March Hare." It was Hatter who spoke this time, and there was no making any retort or answer from this, because now the Tweedles were right below them and they couldn't make a sound. As they passed, Alice began to despair, knowing there was no way they could follow them without being seen or heard. Cheshire Cat, sensing hers and the others worries, grew to 10 times his size.

"Climb on my back, and I will float high above them, unseen, and we will track them."

Quickly the others disentangled themselves from the trees, as silently as possible, and got on Cheshire Cat's back. Alice was amazed at how soft and pillowy his fur was, and wondered if anyone ever got to pet him. Before she could go further on this, they were off, and she had to keep her concentration on watching the Tweedles for what they were doing.

As they walked, they danced about, laughing at some unknown topic of conversation that kept all their attention on themselves and the path at hand. Alice didn't know why, but this frightened her. Everything about these children seemed innocent, but working for March Hare did not. What were they hiding?

Suddenly there was light. She didn't know if the moon was coming out from behind a cloud, or if there was some unknown denizen of Wonderland that could make his body a torch if he wanted to, but there it was. It started out dim at first, and then in a few seconds, Alice could see exactly what the Tweedles looked like now. They were about 14, from what their faces showed, wearing the same colors she assumed they'd been wearing. Each suit had a slight stripped pattern to it, where it was a thick horizontal stripe of flat color, and then a stripe of almost metallic color. This stripe persisted all the way across the outfit, and if the Tweedles had their arms to the sides it would appear there was no break in fabric. Oddly, the person possessing the black glove and black tipped hair was wearing white, and the doppelganger wearing the white glove and sporting the white tipped hair was dressed in black. Each had fiery red hair growing at first, and then they had made about 2 inches from the bottom the other color. This same fiery red persisted in their lips and eyes. The rest of their skin was white. They could both have been easily older or younger than 14, older by the way their bodies were structured. Even from above and from a bit of a distance Alice could tell they were each sporting very toned muscular bodies. The strength of this was proved when they, together, picked up a large boulder that had been blocking a way and threw it aside.

Alice was distracted from the Tweedles themselves by this act of throwing the boulder, because the doing so had made the light even stronger. She leaned off Cat for a better look. Where the boulder had been there was now a room with 2 cages in it, one holding what appeared to be a walrus wearing a red vest and black dinner jacket and the other held captive a man with a rather large nose, short messy hair and white carpenter's clothes. The cages were close enough together that, standing in one very close to one side, you could reach out and into the other cage. The inhabitants weren't doing that, though. Both looked very tired, dirty, and weak. When they saw the Tweedles, though, they didn't hide their anger.

"Why do you keep us locked up in here? We've done nothing to you." the carpenter said, his voice shaking from the energy it took to speak.

"Ah but you have the power to do something to our master." the Tweedle wearing black said in a voice that was high and smooth.

"And what is that?" he asked, his voice shaking worse than it had been before.

"You each have very good navigation and boat building skills. What would March Hare do if you decided to start building vessels so people could cross the Endless Sea and try and stop him? Well it would just mean more work for him to do, wouldn't it?"

"Can we... at least... have a little to... eat...?" the walrus asked, his chest heaving with every word.

"No." The one wearing white now spoke, his voice very low for a childish voice, like coming thunder. "March Hare no longer wants to spare you. We have been given orders to ensure you starve to death. Besides," he added now, grinning happily with his eyes closed. "We do love the cages we made so much, and if you eat too much, you'll break out again like you did last time you had a feast, and it's just too tiring to try and round you up again."

"You... stupid bastards... You just... Want to masturbate and... Fuck each other all day..." Walrus said, so angry that his eyes were bulging slightly, a sight that the Tweedles obviously found hilarious by the way they were trying not to laugh. "You just... kill and fuck and drink and rape... You don't even care who you're... hurting do you?"

"Silly Walrus, if course we care, don't we Dee?" said the one in black cheerfully, now obviously identifying himself as Dum. "We care that we're hurting you and that we're hurting others."

"We just like it." said Dee, his voice low as usual. "And we like that we like it. Now if you'll excuse us, we have business to attend to." The Tweedles turned and, giving each victim a childish wave of the hand, went off into the forest. They left the room unguarded, probably thinking nothing would try to save their hapless prizes.

"I don't blame them for thinking all is well." said Alice, her voice grim. "Whole area's probably terrified of them."

"They are." Hatter, Rabbit and Cat said in unison.

"Okay, get off my back, you have work to do before they come back here." Cat said alone now, sinking low to the ground a little out of the path of the light.

"What are we to do?" Alice asked, the last person to be slipping off the cat's soft fur.

"Bust them out of course!" Cat said, sounding a little annoyed. "Honestly girl what else were you thinking?"

"Well I know THAT, but how?"

"Feed them. Whatever they ask, And be quick about it." His outline was already fading.

She turned to the others, and, with a quick nodd to each other, they walked into the light.

The reaction was slow, as the walrus and the carpenter were both very weak and tired from days of being locked up in cages. Carpenter noticed first, looking at Alice and squinting his eyes. She stood still, her hands behind her back, tilting her head to the side slight and smiling at him. Then she saw his eyes light up and his weary face break out in a wife grin.

"Alice... You've come back." He raised himself up from the ground, and Alice saw his leg was broken; he was using an old plank to try and keep his weight off it. Even as she looked on, her face now sad, he hobbled carefully over to the side closest to Walrus and reached out through the bars with this stick, poking his friend in the stomach to rouse him.

"Walrus! Walrus be alert! Alice is here, and so is Hatter and White Rabbit."

"Alice...? Rabbit...? Hatter...? Our old friends?" Walrus opened his eyes, and they revealed themselves to be bloodshot and tired-looking. He looked too thin for himself, she didn't think his legs could support him in this state. Still, when he saw them he laughed a bit, and looked more like himself. "What are you... doing here?"

"We've come to help you, friend." Hatter said, walking over to the cage and reaching in to clasp Walrus's hand. "We've seem the Tweedles come here and leave. What have they done to you?"

"Evil little fuckers, those bastards are." Carpenter said, spitting his words with venom. "Came and got us when we were doing our work by the sea. Alice, I heard how yer coming here and then leaving again caused Time to go backwards," he nodded in her direction "good show that was. I'd never felt so full of energy. You should have seen how many things we were cranking out together..." his eyes were getting a little teary thinking about his craft, and then darkened "but it weren't meant to last, I guess. One day we're out there minding ourselves and working on a nice raft when here they come. Fooled us. Said March Hare needed some new chairs for the tea party, I don't know. We believed em, we didn't know at the time that March Hare had long since turned wrong. Next thing we know we're getting hit over the head when our backs is turned and we end up in these cages."

"And they're starving you so you can't break out?"

"Aiye." Carpenter said, nodding. "If they feed us, even crap food, we'd be able to use the energy to heal ourselves and our strength and get out of here. My leg would be well again, and our faces and bodies would look young again. They don't want this."

"We were told by a friend to get you whatever food you wanted." interrupted Alice. "If you could have one thing, what would you want?"

"Oysters." Walrus said, quicker than anything else they'd heard coming out of his mouth. "As many as possible."

"Were can we get them?"

"The Endless Sea is right behind this place, not 15 yards from here." Carpenter was speaking low and fast, trying not to get over excited and tire himself out. "Walk down into the water, yes, into don't give me that look" he was speaking to Alice, who's eyes had gotten wide "the sea is breathable if you walk in slowly, and keep walking until you're about 5 feet under the water. There you'll come to the oysters. Don't go much further than that, or else the bottom drops out and you'll never be found again, only to the oysters. Just tell them you're taking them to a circus and they'll follow you up in droves."

Alice wasn't 100% sure on this, but she acquiesced and then volunteered for the job, telling the other 2 to stay back and try and see what else they could find out about anything. She went around the side, and sure enough, she could hear the soft sounds of water on a shore. In a few seconds, she was at the shoreline, and looking at the great expanse of stars that was the Endless Sea. Despite the fact that she could see the movements of the waves, it looked perfectly still. Off in the distance she could see the red of the other side of the chess board, complete with the red and black checkered sky that hung over that side of the war area, and beyond it, the edges of what she was sure was the Land of Fire and Brimstone. Looking at this gave her the courage she needed, and she stepped into the water.

It wasn't anything like last time, where the waves had been pulling her down. This time it was soft, almost like a caress, and the splashes seemed to be gently calling her name. She stepped again, and felt no change, and before she knew it she was in the water breathing easy. Her confidence brimming, she walked a few more feet to where she saw the pearly shells of oysters at the bottom of the sea floor.

As she approached, all the lids of the oysters popped open, and Alice could see tiny faces poking up from under the shells. They were small childish faces, looking at her as curiously as she was looking at them. Each and every one of them was wearing their shells like a bonnet, and the fleshy interior looked almost like a little pink dress. They tittered to themselves, and then fell silent, seeing what she was going to do.

"Hello oysters." she said, feeling almost silly.

"Hello" came the ringing unison of over 100 little oysters gigging and smiling at her.

"Would you like to come to a circus with me?"

"YES!" came the answer, and Alice sighed in relief, watching the oysters getting up from their shells to follow her. This is going to be easier than I thought, Alice grinned to herself.

"Wait just a minute." Alice looked and towards the back to see a great granny oyster, who's glasses were stuck to her face despite the lack of a nose, walking toward her. "Once a creature came into these waters and told my family they were taking them to a circus. They never came back. Why should I think that you're not going to do the same thing?"

Alice looked at her. She looked at the oysters on the ground. She looked at her hands, pearly green in the refractions of the water. She looked back from where she'd came, knowing that Hatter, Rabbit, Walrus and Carpenter were praying for her quick and successful return so that Walrus and Carpenter would be well again and they could hopefully find a way across the Endless Sea.

Then she spoke. She told them of her name, who she was, where she was from. She told them of how she had been here once before and then had never been able to get back until now. She told them of how the Queen's disappearance was because she had been chasing after her, and what March Hare was doing in the mean time. She told them of meeting her old friends again, and clubbing with Caterpillar. She told them of the dream she'd had, and of the plan they were trying to make work. She told them of her misadventure in the Pale Realm, how the White Royals had tried to kill her and betray Hatter to March Hare simply for power. She told them of how she thought she was falling in love with Hatter. Then she spoke of the Tweedles, what they'd done to Carpenter and Walrus, and of the evil they were doing to the surrounding area, and what the Carpenter and Walrus had asked for in the hopes their strength and youth would return and they would be able to help the cause for good. Then she waited, to see what the oysters would do.

The Great Grandmother oyster listened to all this, and thought the whole time she listened. When Alice was done, she thought for only a minute more before she spoke, her voice very serious. "Take the oysters with you. Children, you will follow her, and you will feed our friends. Now Alice, this is very important. Have Walrus and Carpenter put all the shells into one place, and when they're done, gather them up and throw them back into the ocean. Can you promise you will do this?"

"I promise on my life."

"Then take the oysters with you."

With a nod to the others, and a smile on everyone's face, the younger oysters followed Alice out of the water and back to camp, where she was greeting with relieved face and quiet cheers.

Before they started eating, Alice warned Walrus and Carpenter to put the shells where Alice would be able to gather them easily. When she was asked why, Alice told the tale, while the young oysters forced themselves into a deep sleep so as not to feel the pain. When Alice was done, tears were streaming down Walrus and Carpenter's faces. They readily agreed.

As the others ate, Rabbit and Hatter shared with Alice what they'd learned. The storms in the east were growing worse and more and more volcanoes were going off. There was no threat of lava if you weren't in the Land of Fire and Brimstone yet, but word told that even the Jabberwocky was getting nervous. There were whispers that the volcanoes were because March Hare was employing new ways of trying to find the Queen, or at least that's what the Tweedles had been laughing about when they weren't torturing their captives. Hatter and Rabbit had seen the bones; apparently the Tweedles were taking pleasure in sadism recently. Rabbit insisted he'd seen it coming; few things can be as cold and cruel as young boys.

When the oysters were gone, Alice made a giant pocket out of her dress and put all the shells in it. She then walked down to the ocean. It was now the dead of night, all seemed asleep, except for the fact there were still lights coming from the East, where the Reds and the Land of Fire and Brimstone lay. She looked out at it, and felt strange. It was hard to believe that a few days ago she had been in London, unaware of anything else. Now, she was here, and yet, she somehow felt more at home than she ever had there, even with all the danger in the air.

Suddenly, despite her task, the horizon had her full attention. Something was flying over the Land of Fire and Brimstone, and it didn't seem to be Jabberwocky. It looked more like Gryphon. Hadn't Caterpillar said he was with the Queen?

A sound from behind her reminded her of why she was here. "I have kept my word. Thank you for your help, my friends." She dropped the shells into the water. As they hit, they caught the light of the moon, so they all appeared silver as they slid into the sea. Alice heard the sounds of many small things, and smiled. Somehow, she knew, the oysters were all right.

Hearing another sound, she hurried back to her friends. When she got there, she stopped. The cages were broken. Standing before her, looking incredibly strong with more muscles than she was aware could be on someone, was Carpenter. His skin was weathered and tan from working hard, and his smile was a clear and kind as his eyes, which in this light looked as blue as the sky. He still had a huge nose, but now it seemed to fit in with his wide strong jaw. As for Walrus, he was in fact a walrus, but now she could tell he was in the prime of his life. A hat sat jauntily on his head, and his skin had as few wrinkles as was allowed on a walrus. His whiskers were full and combed clean, his eyes a glistening black. He had long straight tusks of ivory, and his body seemed smooth and shining. His coat and vest was still dirty, but next to the health he exhibited it didn't matter at all.

"Now then." Walrus's voice was now strong and hearty. "What can we do for you?"

"First, I suggest we congregate somewhere else. The Tweedles could be back at any time, and it's been long already." Rabbit's voice, while in authority, had a hint of worry to it. "We should go to where your tools are, Carpenter, and see about things there."

"Aiye." said Carpenter, his voice also full of a new strength he showed on the outside. "I'll lead the way."

When they had started into the trees and out of of the light, all talk stopped. The woods here had a sinister quiet to them, and the last thing they needed was to attract unwanted attention. The walk was quick, and in a few minutes they were safely on the shoreline, already far from where the Tweedles were by the way the forest seemed alive here. The two artisans stopped here, and breathed in great breaths of air. "It feels good to be free again." Walrus explained.

"So, to work." Carpenter cut in, and disappearing inside a small shake, came back with a box of tools and part of a raft. "You'll be wanting to cross the Endless Sea, am I right?"

"Yes." said Alice, sounding relieved. "Though we know it to be dangerous."

"Very dangerous." Carpenter agreed. "But for a good cause. It will be ready in 10 minutes."

They thought it wasn't possible for anyone to finish a project in such short time, but they under estimated the energy Carpenter felt. With Walrus handing him tools and diving into the waters to fetch strong woods made waterproof by the splashing of the seas, Carpenter had a raft built in no time. As the others looked on, he and Walrus pushed it into the water and tested it's weight with large rocks by the way. Satisfied, they stepped back.

"It'll hold." Carpenter said, rubbing his hands on his shirt. "And it'll take you where you need to go."

"Thank you." Alice said. The others joined in. "This means so much to us." Hatter said. "What will you do now?" Rabbit asked.

"Well, the Tweedles will notice us gone soon." Carpenter said, looking back over his shoulder into the darkness of the trees. "I wager we'll head down the coast to where Dodo is and see about joining his crew." The sound of enraged screams caused dark shapes to fly up from the trees, and Walrus made frantic motions.

"Go, you three! You only have a few minutes before the Tweedles come, and the last thing we need is for you to be found by those lot." The others nodded, and they jumped onto the raft. Together Walrus and Carpenter gave the wooden craft and great push, and then they were far out into the sea watching as Carpenter got on Walrus's back and disappeared into the waves. Just as they were rounding a corner to head down a side river outlet and toward the red side of the Pale Realm, they saw two figures run out onto the beach and look fruitlessly out at the horizon.

Breathing easy, Alice looked in front of her. They were getting closer and closer to the shoreline, and soon Hatter was able to reach out with his hand to keep them going the way they needed to go.

"What's the plan?" Hatter was asking the others. Alice looked at him with surprise, then confusion. How should she know?"

"I guess, we should just sneak in there, get what we need, and get out. Without the red pieces knowing what we're up to, of course." Rabbit said, scratching his ear with his hind leg, the most rabbit like thing Alice had ever seen him do.

"Do we ever know what we're looking for?" Hatter asked.

"A key." Alice said, sounding hazy. "A gold key with the emblem of the Club on it. It will lead us to their throne room and then open the door to it without triggering any traps.

"Where we will find it, you think?" Hatter questioned, asking no one in particular.

"It's floating on a small column under a red light in the throne room." Alice said, amazed that she knew at all.

"Well, making our way there won't be easy." Rabbit mused, not thinking ti weird that Alice knew. "But, I think if we're careful, we can manage."

They docked, and started up the hill. Alice looked behind her; the raft, like a loyal pet, was waiting there for them. Alice had a feeling it wouldn't permit leaving without them. With one last look back, she tramped up the steep ridge to the door of the castle. Stopping about 200 yards before they reached the door, they hid behind an expanse of bush and shrub that boarded a wide, harsh wood. They peeked over the edge. Knights, not pawns, guarded the gate. They looked wild, and the fact that the rusty color of their red form looked like a white knight that was bleeding all over itself. They ducked back behind the bush, and turned to look at each other.

"Alright, on the count of three, I guess we'll make a break for it to around the side." Hatter suggested. Rabbit nodded, and Alice, feeling hesitant but hopeful, agreed silently. They turned back to overlook the castle, so it was no wonder they didn't see the tall shape heading towards them, listening to every word they were saying.

"One..."

Alice lifted her skirt, getting ready.

"Two..."

Alice raised slightly from her kneeling position.

"Th-"

Hatter was cut off by a hand over his mouth. Before Alice could turn to see what was going on, a hand grabbed the back of her dress and pulled her into the woods. The figure dragged all three of them, with Rabbit slung over it's shoulder, about 15 feet before dropping them.

"Are you trying to get yourselves killed?" The voice was female and fairly deep, sounding it belonged to a woman in her 30's. Alice moved the hair out of her eyes and looked up to see a very beautiful woman standing over them. She was tall, made taller by a full length gown the colors of autumn leaves. Her hair was waist long and wavy, falling in soft dark waves down her back and over her shoulders. Her ivory skin off set her emerald eyes and gemstone lips that, through the magic of make-up or perhaps magic itself, shimmered even in the faint light of the moon through the trees. Even though she was looking at them in anger, the hands on her hips almost hidden under the length of her sleeves and her face frowning, Alice had never seen any woman so stunning in all her life.

"Who are you?" Alice asked, her voice full of wonder. At this question, the woman smiled, and pulled aside the high neck of her cloak, revealing lower on the collar of her gown to be a broach with a 5 leaf clover wearing a simple crown etched on it in gold.

"I'm the Duchess."


	7. in Duchess's hidden house

This chapter took me the longest because I kept trying to figure out if I wanted to add the visit to the Red Lands in this one or the next one. in the end I decided to make it it's own chapter and give it the justice it deserves. It should be ready in a couple days. Enjoy.

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"I see the Duchess stopped you from certain doom."

Alice found she was sitting on Caterpillar's mushroom wearing the same dress she had been, only this time her hair looked neatly combed. Caterpillar was there, too, smoking his hookah and watching the smoke rings disappear into the clear blue sky.

"Yes, how did she find me?" she asked, playing with her hair.

"Dormouse alerted her. And he knew because he's been keeping an eye on Hatter for us these past few months. Originally it was because I worried with March Hare's growing influence he'd turn but... Then it was because with March Hare's growing influence I feared people would turn on him. Dormouse can, and always will, be trusted. Also," he added, turning to look at her with his rather large eyes. "your hair won't be nearly this tangle free when you wake up."

"Oh, why?" Alice asked, and she looked very sad at this news.

"Because you've been running around all night and only passed out from perhaps shock when Duchess revealed to you who she is."

"But why is she beautiful now? And why is she helping us, doesn't she hate the Queen? And what's she doing this close to the Pale Realm? And-"

"These are all questions for Duchess to answer, Alice. I am not going to invade her territory like that. What I am going to do, however, is answer a couple more questions for you. Luckily for me, this time there is plenty of time, your mind is much more pliable tonight..."

He drew in smoke, and then blowing it up into the air like a smiling dragon coiling around the both of them, he began his story. "Once upon a time there was a man. He was a human man, of great intelligence and power. He looked at the empty space that is Wonderland now, and decided he would do something with it. He crafted the land to look like his own where he'd come from, the water to mimic the water there, and had them sharing the same sky, though everything shares the same sky..."

"When he had made the land, he created us. He decided to give us intelligence, that we would be able to protect our home. He made lesser animals too, of course, for eating and for playing and for being part of the fields and trees, and while these were not made as many they bred much faster.

"For creations like Hatter, the Tweedles, and a few other of our friends, they were made to look, be, and act mostly human. For those like me, centipede, and the like, we were made to resemble animals but have greater than average human intelligence. The Cards were made strictly to rule, being as they automatically had a sense of monarchy on how the rules of playing them were, and the Chess pieces to help them. Chess itself could not rule because it is not versatile, ruling takes having many points of view, and Chess only knows war.

"After a time, a few generations, others began to come to Wonderland and not leave. Gryphon was one of these. The Duchess, also, is not a native here. She hails from another place, and it has been so long I don't think even she knows where she came from. These people never left, and instead, helped change and alter the landscape of Wonderland, allowing for creatures new and old to enjoy it and ensuring that the Creator and his family, for by now it had been a long time and he had grandchildren and great grandchildren, to be happy here as well.

"One day, the Creator left, for who knows where, perhaps his original home, and when he left his family left also. The change this brought was not immediate, but somewhat severe. The denizens of Wonderland were growing old, having families, and children, and then passing on. I did not have any children, and luckily enough I did not pass on, so I recall and understand all this. Centipede, however, did. March Hare is another. The new generations, while looking just like their originals, were brought up outside the knowledge and joy of the Creator being there and the growth that happened because of his influence to grow. For some, like him, like a few others... They turned nasty. It was like they had all been pretending, all this time, that they enjoyed trying to be peaceful with the rest of us and then all of a sudden wanted nothing to do with us. This did not happen to all, however, but the general reaction that happened to everyone, including myself, was madness. The ruling powers felt this worst of all, perhaps that's why there were so very many be-headings? In any case, it's no wonder then why the madness has generally subsided since you've been here."

"What do you mean Caterpillar?" Alice asked, her eyes wide.

"That is a story for another time." Caterpillar said, reaching down with some of his hands to pass himself another coal for the hookah.

"Oh, please?" Alice said, her hands clasping for effect.

"Alice I would if I could but you're not ready. Don't worry though," he said in answer to her open mouth, "you'll be ready by tonight, and then I will come to you in your dreams again and tell you more. For now, I can leave you with one thing from these dreams, so I think I should give this to you." he said, reaching into his pocket.

"Can't you just make my hair not be tangly?" Alice asked meekly.

"Are you really going to turn up a potion to make you, Rabbit, and Hare invincible for 10 minutes over your hair being straight?"

"Oh wow, the potion does all that?" Alice exclaimed.

"Yes. It should be more than useful for your going into the Red Lands, you just have to be quick." he informed, handing her the potion. He offered her a good luck puff on the hookah, which she took. "And one more thing: when you go, I suggest you warn the others to wear as little clothing with loose ends as possible. I don't suggest not wearing any clothing, because then you would be quite cold and it would probably be a lot more noticeable when you get stabbed in the chest and no harm befalls you that something odd is going on."

"I will tell them, Caterpillar." Alice promised, blowing out the hookah smoke.

"Alright them. I have just one more thing to say to you."

"What?"

"It's time for Breakfast, Alice dear...."

_____________________

"...time for Breakfast, Alice dear. I've got some nice eggs and toast and steak for you, so dig in." Alice opened her eyes sleepily. There, looking as radiant as the morning even with her long gown off and wearing a simpler one of orange with the sleeved rolled up and her hair over one shoulder tied with a ribbon was Duchess. The broach was still on her bodice, however, so there was no mistaking her. Not that she could anyway.

In the sunlight Alice got a much better look at her. Her looks were distinct, perhaps too angular-ly perfect to be quite real. Her eyes were still the impossibly emerald that they had been, but her dark long lashes and dark eyelids looked softer with the kindness she was feeling toward Alice. Her lips were softly curved, even when resting, into a smile. They were full, but not to bursting, and a little bottom heavy. They were set off by high angler cheekbones, allowing her chin to end in a rounded point. A wide clear forehead with perfectly arched eyebrows ended her face, the entire effect making it so it was almost hard to look at her too long, like looking at the sun.

"You gave us quite a scare last night, what with you, Hatter, and Rabbit almost running straight into the Red Land's traps." Duchess placed the breakfast on the bed next to her and stepped back, wiping her hands on a cloth she had hanging on a cord around her waist. As she did, Alice got a look at her figure. It was a perfect hourglass shape, with a high neck, long legs, and curves so smooth it looked like she'd been blown that way like sand by wind. She was trying to figure out how she had been so ugly the last time she'd been here, and why she was beautiful now. Then she realized she'd been spoken to.

"Us quite a scare?" Alice asked, looking away from her to see the room she was in; comfortable, with wide open windows.

"My husband and I." she nodded. "You'll meet him later this morning, he's scouting the area now. He wants to make sure the Reds don't know you're here. Eat." She added, motioning to the food.

Alice looked down and saw it did indeed look delicious, and started to eat. "How did-"

"Chew and swallow your food first, dear. You'll spill it all over yourself if you don't." She reminded Alice of a kind nanny, but was far kinder than anyone else Alice had ever met who had the inkling to make her breakfast.

Alice smiled, swallowed, and continued. "How did you know we were there? I know Dormouse-"

"Ah, so Caterpillar's been telling you all our secrets, has he?"

"You know about Caterpillar visiting me in my dreams?"

"Well of course, dear. Next to the Majesties I'm the most qualified for the throne around."

"Why don't you try and rule then?"

Duchess sighed, and fingered the broach at her collar. She looked distant. "The Queen.... has never been my friend... But just as it was never her place to behead people on a whim, so as it's never been my place for the throne. And unlike some" her voice took a more severe turn here for a moment, "I will not overstep my place."

Alice kept eating, thinking about Duchess's words. She watched as Duchess turned to the window, the sunlight catching her hair, before Duchess turned back. "But you asked me how I knew. We watch over you, you know. It wouldn't do for someone as special as you to get hurt or fall into the wrong hands."

"Watch over me?" Alice asked. "How can you find me?"

"To those of us who have a strong mind and a good will, you stand out from the crowd, dear. It's more than easy to find you, especially since the only other 2 people who keep your company are also key figures to us."

"Duchess," asked Alice, not really trying to change the subject but simply having to know, "you're so beautiful now."

"Thank you, Alice. That's very kind of you to say." Duchess replied with a smile.

"What had happened to you to make you so ill tempered and ugly when I saw you last?"

Duchess sighed, and sat on her bed. She looked at the floor, then at the sky showing outside the window. "Alice, what you need to understand is that there are a lot of things that can happen to a person. I came from very far away, that much I can tell you. When I got set up here, life was good. I was a member of the Court of Hearts, and I was able to laugh with many good friends. March Hare's father, the original March Hare, was one of them. The Queen..." Duchess paused, and turned to smile a sad smile at Alice. "The Queen was jealous of my beauty. She banished me from court, and from my friends. It was due to that, however, that I ended up meeting my husband. I was very happy... Until the Queen had him beheaded."

Alice put a hand over her mouth in shared despair. "Oh no..."

Duchess put up her hands. "No, no! Don't be sad. Thanks to you, I have him back, what with time going backwards. I... really can't thank you enough Alice." She put her hands on Alice's and her eyes were slightly teary. "This and... I really know you're going to be a key to set this place right again. Soon it will be as it was, so long ago..."

Her words were interrupted by the sound of a door closing, and heavy steps coming up the stairs. "Duchess? Dear?"

"Oh! that will be my husband. You'll get to meet him now." She rose from the bed and smoothed her dress, looking toward the door. In walked a tall man, wearing a plain white peasant's shirt and black pants tucked into black leather boots. He was bald, and this was not a surprise because, though his eyes were a lovely amber and framed in eyelashes almost as long as Alice's own, he was a pig. Not in looks, because he was very handsome for a pig, but he was a pig. He had the snout and the ears and the mouth, with enough human in him to allow his mouth to form into speech and words. Duchess greeted him with a hug and a kiss. He placed a hand gently on her cheek.

"Hello my love. Alice." he nodded, smiling at Alice's stunned look digging into him from the bed with a slight laugh. "The area is clear. I'm going to get the bath and clothes ready for our guests." He left the room with another nod and smile to the occupants, and disappeared around the corner.

Alice watched him go then turned to Duchess with a stunned look. "You married him? You?"

Duchess smiled a dreamy smile, looking after her husband. "Alice, I know I'm considered the most beautiful woman around. I married him because, when he smiles at me with those golden eyes of his, I believe it."

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Water had never felt so good on her skin. After 2 straight days of running through a forest, being dowsed by an ocean twice, having to claw and fight her way out of an army of chess pieces, and being inside a hot smokey club, she was in dire need of a bath. She had decided on a shower first, knowing she didn't want to be sitting in what felt like a weeks worth of grim when it washed off her into the water, and was enjoying herself immensely.

"I could stay like this forever..." Alice mused, incredibly relaxed with the hot water falling over her. Duchess's husband, calling himself Harold, had rigged it so she could lounge and just let the water hit her with a kind of plastic chair on the side of the shower's wall. That plus the fact that the molded glass walls had an intricate pattern etched in it that looked like an abstract field with flowers, trees and a waterfall made the entire idea very relaxing.

Lazily she remembered asking Harold and Duchess why Harold had a name. To this answer, Duchess had rubbed her stomach and explained she was going to have a baby. Amid Alice's congratulations, duchess explained that the son would bear the name Pig, while her husband would go by his actual name as kind of right of passage, giving the title Pig to his son.

"What will your name be then, Duchess?" Alice had wondered.

Duchess had given a soft, dreamy smile and rubbed her stomach was more. "Mother."

The sound of the bathroom door opening made Alice frenzy to cover herself before she remembered that the etched walls also prevented anyone from seeing in. "Alice?" the voice belonged to Harold.

"Ah, yes?"

"I've got towels and cloths in here for you. When you're ready, food is on the table. I can keep it hot for as long as it takes. It's the third door down on your left on the third floor from the south staircase."

He left the room, and Alice wrote the directions on the steamed up door in order to remember them. Duchess's house was a magic one for hiding; it appeared to be in many places at once, it's actual location hidden somewhere behind the Pool of Tears. If anyone ever actually saw her house, it would look very small and unassuming. Inside, however, it was a multi-story collaboration of the Duchess's ideas and Harold's busy boredom. Room after room after room were built and furnished in order to confuse outsiders and entertain guests. The Great Dining Hall, one of these rooms and quite possibly possessing more chandeliers Alice had ever heard of let alone seen in one place before.

Once more alone and now with the knowledge of where lunch will be served, she reached for some of the body soaps Duchess had given her to use. The shampoos had worked wonderfully, leaving Alice very happy with how clean and soft her hair felt, as well as amazed with the fact that, for some reason, her hair seemed longer than it did before. She was very excited to see what the scrubs would do for her skin.

She squeezed some into a poof, and just breathing it in felt as though things were clicking in place for her. Beginning to wash, she sighed loudly with pleasure. She was feeling all sorts of wonderful things at once, the feeling of the wind in her hair, the smell of the ocean after a storm, the taste and texture of Hatter's lips. She blushed, but not out of embarrassment. That familiar feeling was back again, of something hot uncurling inside her. She wasn't sure what it was yet, but she knew it happened every time she thought about Hatter, especially if she thought about Hatter holding her. She was aware of the fact that she was probably falling in love with him, and really why shouldn't she? Hadn't he saved her once and then journeyed and fought with her of his own accord many times? But this was different. This was like she... Wanted something...

Suddenly she got a strangely dark feeling, and her eyes were drawn to the reflections of the light coming through the glass walls. Her eyes held there, and she got an odd vision of something happening. A blood red queen and a blood red king, wearing masks like animals, were pacing back and forth in a great checked room. Chained on the walls were the bodies of white chess pieces, cut so much they looked almost as red as the 2 royals who were having some kind of meeting. The stomachs were cut open, and the intestines were falling onto the floor. Some of them had rats crawling through them. What almost made Alice vomit was seeing one of the white pieces move and suddenly understanding this had happened to them while they were still alive. Realizing she could hear the voices of the red majesties, she turned off the water so she could hear clearly.

"...fucking morons. They obviously had no idea what they were doing, or else he wouldn't have escaped." The sound of the Red Queen's voice fell on Alice's ears like a tidal wave crashing into a dock, it was too harsh to be real. "Still, I'm glad they are morons. If these little incests are to be believed, he should come here next."

The King walked up to his queen and placed gauntlet-ed hands on her shoulders lovingly. "Don't worry my beautiful love. We will have him soon. And when we do, we can finally rise up against our masters with the power of the crown in our grasp." The King's voice was low and full, almost kind. This made Alice far more nervous than the Queen's voice did; no one sounded that calm when they were that angry, unless they were insane with rage. He ran his hand down her shoulder, cutting it as he did. The blood dripped down her gown, and onto the floor, which Alice now realized wasn't just red due to the checked pattern, but because it was covered in blood and bile. "Do you think we should hide our prize?" He places his mouth opening to the wound in her shoulder, and began to lap up the blood with a loud sucking sound. Alice could tell that, though they did not seem to have eyes, they were looking at the key to the Clubs floating just as Alice said it would be.

"No." the Queen replied. "At least, not before tomorrow. Let's see if we can use it to lure them to us."

The Red Queen turned, and pulled her husband off her skin as if to leave the room, but instead stopped and looked right at Alice. Alice felt her blood run cold, terrified the Red Queen would recognize her. The Queen walked over to one of the corpse bodies on the floor of a white bishop, and pulled a long blade out from the body. Then she took off her mask.

Beneath it was a tattered and rotting face, if you could even call it that. Where a mouth had once been there was now rotting black lips with bits of flesh stuck to it, almost protruding out of skin that was waxy and showing the bones beneath it in obvious gaps in the skin. These were tinged with fire, as though she were burning her skin off from the inside. But the worse was her eyes; they were black canyons carved deep into her face and leaking out black puss down her face like tar. She stuck out a tongue that was covered in pits and licked the blood off the knife, then pointing it at Alice with the most sickening smile she had ever seen.

"You bring that man by here, Girl." Her voice was like death. "If you do it tonight, when I peel the skin from his bones and eat it, I might not make you watch."

The vision ended as quickly as it had come, and Alice was left gasping for air in the emptiness of the room. She got out and dressed quickly, drying her hair as best as she could, and then left; the room no longer held any warmth for her.

________________________________________

Hatter noticed something was off. The lunch was delicious, the music that played in the Great Dining Hall was beautiful, and Mock Turtle was still here enjoying the favors of the host and hostess. He knew that Mock Turtle and Alice had been friends back in the day, and Alice should have been listening to his stories, or at least, being visibly annoyed by how they never ended. She wasn't being herself at all.

Hatter knew the amount of food and trials that had happened to her the past few days; a lot of the second and almost none of the first. She should have been diving headfirst into the meal that was prepared for them. She should have been acting more lively at the table. Instead she was quiet, with shaking hands and dull eyes.

He watched anxiously for a few more minutes before he leaned in close to her, talking under the music and Turtle's stories but close enough she could hear him. "You'd better eat before you fall over from exhaustion."

Alice looked at him, weak but managing a smile. She knew she was worrying him with her actions, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him what she'd seen. Knowing what was expected, she began to shove the food into her mouth, trying not to get anything on her clothes. Hatter wasn't really fooled by this, but he decided to wait until after lunch to speak to her and figure out what was going on.

It wasn't long after this that, despite the fact that Mock Turtle was telling actual interesting tales and the cook had outdone herself on this one (a large motherly woman wearing an apron and a handkerchief over her hair, endlessly fussing about 'the poor wee lass'), that Alice excused herself from the table. She walked around and around the house, exploring the many rooms, some that had many cute kittens, some that had chimes that, despite being indoors, tinkled with a beautiful sound, some with musical instruments and paintings that moved, and one that was full of mirrors that each showed her in a different way (some showed her merely in a different color, while some made her look more like an animal and one that didn't reflect her clothes), but found her way into a room on the second floor that had a large bed and a ceiling that was a gigantic spiral.

It hypnotized Alice to look at, and she found herself laying on the bed looking up through the sheer fabric that was draped over it like a canopy at the spiraling ceiling. She watched this for what felt like an hour, going over endlessly in her mind of the organs and blood that had been on the red checked floor, of how the eyes in the masks seemed to have naught but hollow husks beneath them, of the Queen's words and of how the voices had seemed to insanely evil to her. Over and over this played in her head, the screams of those chained to the walls, the cruel way they were being tortured before her eyes, before she found herself dry heaving off the bed in a very painful way. She was grateful, at least, that whatever magic had made this room the way it was prevented her from spoiling the lovely black carpet, but she felt awful. She was still laying off the bed onto the floor when the sound of a door opening and closing was heard and cool hands on her face lifted her back onto the bed.

Standing before her, wearing the black custom suit he had been wearing at lunch, was Hatter. Standing with him, looking as radiant as ever, was Duchess. Together they made such a perfect picture of beauty and concern that Alice could barely stand to look at them. She closed her eyes.

"Alice..." Hatter said, his voice almost breaking.

"Dear, I think you'd best tell us what's going on."

Afraid to tell them, but not wanting to disobey what her friend had asked, she slowly began to tell them of the vision she'd had the shower, trying not to go into too much detail of how disgusting the throne room had been. Hatter was silent, Duchess agast. When Alice finished, Duchess spoke first.

"Don't go then! Stay here! No one said you had to go to that awful place!"

"I said it." Alice's voice was firm. "And if I want to find the Queen of Hearts, I fear I must."

"Someone else could do it."

"Who, Duchess?" Alice's voice was yelling, but it was obvious it was with desperation, not anger. "I know it's got to be me. It has to be. Why else would now, after all this time, would I come back? Why would Wonderland be waiting for me? Why did my coming here trigger such a change then? It has to be me, Duchess..." her voice was going quiet now. "It has to."

"Well there's no reason you need to get yourself worked up about it." Duchess said brightly, already rummaging around in a closet near-by. Within it she pulled out new clothes that looked to Alice like just rumbled cloth.

"These will suit you well in the Red Lands." Duchess said, tossing one pile at Hatter and another at Alice. They turned to look at each other with raised eyebrows and then back at Duchess, who greeted them with another pile of odds and ends. "And these are your shoes and accessories. Alice, you change in that adjoining room there. Hatter, let's do something about that hat of yours..."

Alice left the room laughing as Duchess was trying to get Hatter to take off his precious hat.

A few minutes later, and Alice was looking in a mirror. Her clothes were... different. A red leotard covered by a black no sleeved half shirt that was low cut with a collar. Her shorts were incredibly short and the frayed ends were burned so threads wouldn't come loose. A golden belt held them in place on her hips. Long stockings done in black and red came up to her mid thighs, and on her feet were multi-clasped boots. With the hairbands she had found she had tied her hair in 2 ponytails and then looped those multiple times so that they didn't dangle down her back. She had never worn anything that left so little to the imagination, and yet, she had never looked so battle ready with all the leather armor over the leotard and stockings. She grinned, almost considering putting black eyeshadow under her eyes so she looked like she was going unto the underbrush.

Realizing that she was probably meant to go back into the main room she knocked on the door. A happy sort of sound from Duchess signaled it was okay to go through. She opened the door and then stopped and stared. Hatter wasn't wearing the hat he had always been wearing, it was now one the Duchess had given him with varying symbols of protection sewn in around the body of the hat in a kind of patchwork fashion, but that wasn't what Alice was staring at. Hatter's usual suit had been exchanged for a skin tight white silk shirt that ended with built in gloves on his hands. Over the coat were black leather wraps that made the shirt appear all the tighter, going over his arms and parts of his chest in a criss-cross fashion to give him some extra armor against anything that might manage to get that far. His pants were, like hers, torn and ripped and burned in the places they were, but unlike hers it was not all over. The rips revealed beneath either skin or more white silk, depending on where they were in the leg, it seemed that, like herself, Hatter was wearing silk pants underneath held in place by hooks at about mid thigh. The look together with his long hair brushed straight and him standing in front of the bed looking rather helpless, and thus pleading, to stop Duchess from dressing him in this fashion was more enough to make her blush red for a few seconds before she could obtain herself and try and put on a straight face that would reassure him that he looked perfect for where they were going.

She waited until her blush had subsided and then put a hand to her chin, pretending to size him up and see if the outfit would work but in actuality she was trying to keep her mouth from literally watering as she ran her eyes over him. 'I think Hatter must be the most handsome man I've ever seen... 'Alice thought to herself. 'And now look at him... Wearing something that shows him off so well... Oh my God but look at what I'm wearing! It clings to my own body just as his clings to his... If we're not careful we're not going to fight very well at all'. On the outside she said, "I think it's perfect. It's form fitting with no loose ends, just as Caterpillar told me it needed to be."

"Yes he had a feeling you'd forget to tell me, dear, so he told me himself. Ah, and speaking of which..." she ran over to the vanity table and opened a drawr, pulling out a small glass vile. "He also asked me to give you this potion."

"Ah yes, thank you! We will need that very badly. I think there's enough for me, Hatter and Rabbit..." Alice looked around her in the room, suddenly realizing Rabbit wasn't there. "Where is Rabbit anyway?"

"I haven't seen him all day either." Hatter mused.

"He's getting some things done before the battle tonight, dears." Duchess said, picking up the clothes off the floor and dropping them down a laundry shoot. "He'll meet you inside. He's trying to make sure he can help you better. Speaking of which..."

Duchess walked over to Alice's outfit and pointed at her stockings. "Your clothes have been chosen for mobility and flexibility. They can move as well as you can, and do not hold you back should you need to bend in a way that is not natural to bend in. The silky cloth beneath is actually stone dragon skin, beaten smooth and wound into a thread and then into fabric. It will not allow a sword point to cut it, but a punch will hurt just as much." Now she moved to Hatter's outfit, pointing to the leather wraps that matched the leather over shirt of Alice's clothes. "The leather here is tough and aged, and will help protect you from spear hits and body slams. Though, I don't suggest you throw yourself into danger to try it out."

"Hatter, your hat and Alice, your hairbands are for protections. It will help you soak up attacks should you get hit after your armor. One more thing..." she was adjusting Alice's shirt and hair more out of a nervous habit than actual need. "I can't protect your skin, like your face, hair and neck. If the potion wears off, I cannot help you." Her eyes looked sad. "I'm sorry, dears. There's only so much possible, even in Wonderland."


	8. the red lands

Sorry for taking so long, everyone. The plug on my hard drive broke, and I had to get a new one. Which means I had to re-write this chapter. It's not as long as my others, but I don't think that's too bad.

WARNING. This chapter gets pretty bad. If you have a slightly weak stomach or can't take reading about things such as torture and rape, wait until chapter 9. Other than that, enjoy.

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Alice and Hatter were crouched behind the bushes that grew just on the edge. Behind them, the Red Lands, the red checked sky looking menacing in the growing darkness. In front of their eyes was the forest they had just come from, but it was not for them. Their destination lay to their backs, and currently, in the little vials they held in their hands; the potion Caterpillar had sent divided into equal halves for the both of them.

Alice was sweating. Her heart was pounding in her chest so loud she was sure it would set off the alarms of the Palace if she wasn't careful. Not that she thought there'd be any alarms; the arched door currently looked deceptively unguarded, the usual array of knights gone. In fact, as far as Alice could see high up into the castle, though the candles were lit and though the place looked like countless eyes were watching them with bright pupils from otherwise dark and bloodstained windows, she could not see any sort of life anywhere.

"Guess Rabbit won't be joining us, hmm?" Hatter was speaking, his voice sounding false in the current situation. Alice didn't answer, or even look at him. Her eyes were fixed on the slight glow of the liquid inside the flask. The wind was blowing against her skin, and beneath her legs, soft green grass grew. Alice grabbed a handful, gripping it like it was her last hold on life. Would she ever feel the lush of such comforts again?

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the movement of Hatter, looking pale, nod his head, and swallow the lump in his throat. He uncorked his bottle, the sound waking Alice from her nervous inner thoughts. She turned to look at him as he brought the potion to his lips.

"Hatter..." Alice's voice made him stop and lower the glass. "Are you sure about this?"

Hatter looked down, then leaned in close. "Alice, this is no time to talk of such things, but these I promise. One, that when we're out of this, and we WILL get out of this, I will sit down with you and talk with you about how I feel about you. And two, I will follow you anywhere."

Her courage renewed, she uncorked her bottle too and, her jaw set but her hand a little shaky, toasted him before tipping her drink.

It was a sensation like nothing she'd felt before, like the softness of spring rain falling down her throat and she was standing under a waterfall, only to be instantly bathed in sunlight and then the searing flame of a campfire, but a soothing, empowering sear. She saw her skin flash red for an instant, and then go back to how it looked before.

"No time to test it." Hatter said, standing, his hair blowing slightly in the wind. "Let's go."

The change was instantaneous as they ran across the invisible boarder between the rest of Wonderland and the red side of the chess board. The land here was a burned, charred black of spikes and metal which Alice knew would have been wearing up her legs if it not for the tear proof stockings and the potion she had drank. They ran like madmen, the wind around them screaming as they passed through the door to the castle. What scared Alice most what just that, the wind was literally screaming with the pain of having someone move through it, and yet, there was no alarm. The place was empty.

Alice looked around at the area as she ran, not knowing where they were going, only knowing she didn't want to stop in this place. The whole area was checked in red and white, the shadows impossibly black. In some corridors, spikes rained down in a pattern onto certain areas of the check board, the impaled forms of those who had not been so lucky still stuck in varying forms of decay to the spikes as they rose and fell. One area dead ended into the undying stars of the Endless Sea, another went in a great odd pattern and Alice found herself running on what she'd thought to be walls. She was getting nervous, they were running out of time, and they still had no idea where they were going. She stopped to take a breath, trying not to worry about the fact even her breath echoed in the hollowed out shell of the Red Castle, when Hatter tapped her shoulder and pointed.

They had seen bodies of white chess pieces everywhere; horrible, decaying things that had a look of terror and pain that varied depending on how they'd found them. Some had the wide eyes of being torn in half by , while others had the contorted face of the punishment of having their bodies compressed and their organs popped by that device known to Alice as the Scavenger's Daughter. However, down a hall to their back left, one previous not noticed and with only a few candles lit, the bodies were more plentiful, and far more grotesque.

There was no running here. The air still echoed with the agonized cries of the victims that lay around them. Some looked as though they'd had been made to sit on a chair of spikes with weights on them by the multiple holes on their body. Some had crushed heads, with the brains leaking out through the holes in their skulls onto the floor. As they got closer, there were bodies of more than just chess pieces. The bodies of varying bird and lizard creatures were braided around wagon wheels and hung on the walls in a sinister, disgusting decorations display while the rent flesh of cats, dogs, rabbits, and a few humans hung like banners across the halls and tapestries on the walls. The whole effect was that of bizarre, distorted royal decoration, perverted with the mad cruelty of those who resided here. Alice saw a few bodies that looked as though they had been travelers like themselves, only to go mad with the blood and gore around them and slice their throats open. A few of even these numbers looked as though, in a fit of further madness, they had tried to stitch themselves back together and bleed to death in the process.

The putrid air was getting thicker, and hanging with actual weight of blood and death on Alice and Hatter. Alice took a sideways glace at him, his form still looking beautiful in the occasional outside light from the windows, but she felt nothing. _How could I ever think I would be distracted by him in this place?_ she thought.

A red light was growing at the end of a hall, and the feeling of nervous terror expanded in Alice's chest. Here, the floor was clean to the point of polished, a deluding gesture that almost made one forget that the cloth that hung on the walls was tattered skin. Almost. The real reason for it seemed to be to give the lump at the end of the hall in the new room it's due recognition. But now, what was this mass? For as Alice and Hatter approached it, it seemed strangely familiar...

"It's the Queen." Hatter's voice was breaking in his throat with fear. There on the floor, her mask removed, was the White Queen. Cuts on her face had been made to mimic the pattern on the mask and to extend her lips across the breadth her head. Her eyes torn out, blood still seeping from the holes, and her breast had been torn from her body and strewn out around her. From the way her hands were chained to the floor, and the awkward way her body was position, she had been alive for all, or at least most, of it and had been struggling, trying to keep them from their deed. There was a mound of something on her stomach, and completely nauseous Alice looked away, realizing what had killed her; she'd had her insides pulled out of her body through her chest while she'd still been alive.

"Like what you see?" Alive was afraid to look up, she knew the cruel tone of that voice. Sitting on a throne, with her husband standing behind her, was the Red Queen. Her mask was off as well, and she could see the blackness of the eyes with whatever it was inside of her, not blood, it was far too black to be blood, leaking out and down her cheeks to fall onto her dress. Her mouth was in a cold, cruel smile that matched her voice. "I'm glad to see you kept our deal, Girl. You brought him, just as I asked..."

She stood, and started to walk for them. Alice put a hand out, trying to prevent her from reaching Hatter. This made the Red Queen laugh. "Oh come on now, girl! You really think anything could stop us from getting to him?" She raised a hand and a spike came from no where and flew straight at Alice's face. It did nothing. The Red Queen frowned. "A Potion of Invincibility... Well, that won't last long. Let's just keep you tied up until then, hmm?"

The Red King raised his hands and pawns , knights, rooks, and bishops, came from all areas of the rooms and swooped down on Alice and Hatter. Twelve pawns took hold on Hatter, while a pair of bishops made for Alice. Alice had a look at them. Their ceremonial robes of state were torn and an all over red bloody color, as was their face and hands. The crosses on their breasts and hats were upside down, and a putrid smile was on their faces. They made no attempt to keep their hands off whatever part of Alice they pleased. "Keep off, Bishops." the Queen's voice rang distastefully. "She is meat, nothing more, nothing less."

"We'll see you when you're in pieces, then." one of the Bishop's spoke, sounding more like a viper than a man of the cloth. Together they chained her to a wall, in chains Alice recognized from her vision as previously holding a white pawn with his organs dripping onto the floor, his last breaths full of pain and torment. She kept her eyes on Hatter, who was currently in the center of the room, three pawns on each appendage. People were approaching her with gags and harnesses, ensuring she couldn't escape or anything else. Alice saw the fear in Hatter's eyes as they did this.

"Hatter, no! Don't listen to them or do anything you say! You can't turn yourself in you-" A rook had slapped Alice's mouth so hard it started to bleed and then shoved a mask with eye holes over the top half of her face and bridle over the bottom half.

"There. I think that's better." The Red Queen's smile was more than disquieting, it was evil. "Perhaps with that bridle you can have her for a ride later, Love."

"Only if our guest got to watch." The Red King answered, his gentlemanly voice obviously tainted in this hateful sentence thrown in Hatter's broken psyche. The Red Queen walked up to him and took his chin in her hand, getting some of the putrid stuff from her eyes on his face. "Don't worry... We know all about you... and her..." Her not-eyes turned to look at Alice now. "We don't know who you are yet, girl, but we know that you've been traveling together... Sleeping in the same camp... We know you've kissed... And you freed Walrus and Carpenter, oh wouldn't the Tweedles like to know about this?" She laughed at the terrified looks in Alice and Hatter's eyes. "Oh but don't worry, we're not here to talk about that... We're here to talk about you. Hatter..." her smile grew wider and more demented. "Have you told her your little secret, about March Hare?"

"No..." It was an answer and a plead. He looked desperate.

"Oh why so worried, Hatter? Surely she'd understand..." The Red Queen began to pace back and forth, and Hatter began to move, and got a sharp kick to both his legs and a hand over his mouth for the effort. He fell to the floor on his knees, his eyes on the Red Queen. She ignored this. "You see, Girl, court, my King," she motioned to each as she spoke, "it is true that Hatter and March Hare had a falling out. It is true that Hatter cried for so long when March Hare turned on him. And it is true that March Hare would like nothing more than to torture Hatter now for as long as he liked in his court, set up just a few hilltops away in the Land of Fire and Brimstone. But what Hatter did not tell everyone, is just what kind of friends March Hare and he were." Here she leaned in close, making sure every syllable spit on Hatter's face. "They were lovers."

_What? _Alice though, her mind racing. Her head was filled with pictures of Hatter and March Hare, sharing tea in the light of sunset, looking at each other with love filled eyes, retiring to bed where Hatter felt the touch of March Hare's soft fur against his skin, his almost human-like mouth on his body. Alice was full of something she couldn't name, but it was enough to almost make her cry, until she saw Hatter. Hatter was crying.

"Yes, it's true." the Red Queen said, walking away from the shaking Hatter, his sobs silenced by the hand over his mouth. "They were lovers. But on that faithful day, when March Hare realized himself as the destined Lord of Wonderland, and Hatter tried so desperately to stop his dear friend from going out and taking a position that, stupidly, he thought wasn't his place to have, that it would upset the balance of the world, March Hare decided it was time to put his little sex toy in his place.

"He flung him down and raped him, calling him useless and ugly, saying the sex had never been worth it and it was only slightly good right then because he was getting to do something he had always wanted to do; humiliate and hurt Hatter. He then carved the word slut into his chest, and cut Hatter's hair from being almost to his waist to just above his shoulders, and flung it in his face. I know this because March Hare loves to brag about it. He especially loves to tell people of the way Hatter looked on the floor afterward: broken, bleeding, and cold. Hatter had been sitting freezing on the floor, his clothes in tatters, his body slashed, and March Hare spit on him, and told him he was less than nothing and always would be."

Hatter looked like he was going to die. Tears were pouring out of his eyes, and he looked visibly beaten. Alice hated it, with a kind of cold hatred that felt like sorrow. It was one thing to burn skin and murder slowly. One could get beyond that by knowing, at least, that the pain would end seen for they were going to die. This was something worse. This was taking someone perfectly healthy and breaking their mind with the worse thing in the world. And she had no idea what to do.

"So, what do you say, Hatter?" The Red Queen asked. "Are you ready to turn yourself in, and accept yourself as to die as you are, less than nothing at the hands of March Hare?"

_Don't do it Hatter!_ Alice tried to say, but all that came out was frantic mumbles. Hatter didn't raise his head, or even make an attempt to move. He just knelt on the floor looking like the air had been knocked out of him by a hammer. The Red Queen raised her hand, and then stopped, walking over to Alice chained on the wall, who was still trying desperately to tell Hatter not to do it.

"Why so insistent, little girl? Don't you know you've lost?" The Red Queen moved to be right next to her face, looking as Alice was at Hatter. "You see that, there? You see that crushed person sitting on the floor? He's mine now. There is nothing you can do. Oh I know what you were probably TRYING to do..." the Red Queen said as she walked back over to her throne and motioned to the Key of Clubs. "You were trying to get this. You were trying to rush off to our masters and warn them of the trouble brewing right under their noses. You were trying to save the day and find the Queen and make everything right again. Well, I have news for you." the chess piece moved with unseen legs over to her in a quick movement to be right in her face, letting Alice see the true emptiness of her head. "You cannot win. This is not your endgame. This is mine. I have you, and soon, I will have everything. Guards, go ahead and kill her." She turned away, snapping her fingers, and the bishops walked back over to her, a cloth in one of the bishop's hands. This they wound around her throat and began to pull. "We're willing to bet that those clothes you have are armor. My guess is this is the easiest way to do it. We'll see you soon, girl."

"No... no...." Alice managed to say as she began to black out. Then, suddenly, the sound of a million things cracking and moving caused the guards to let go of the tie and Alice blinked herself back into reality.

White Rabbit stood in the doorway to the room, looking almost human. He was tall and lean, his fur cut short. His face was set in a determined line, and one of his arms was pointing straight at the Red Queen. "Attack!" From beyond the door vines crawled in quickly and began to wrap themselves around the two bishops, dragging them out the door screaming and trying to grab something to pull themselves back. From beyond the opening came some of Wonderland's trees and a few bigger pieces of furniture from Rabbit's first house, brought back to life by some sort of magic Rabbit had worked. The new development scattered the red chess pieces and sent the pawns that had been holding Hatter crashing into the walls as a smaller tree and one of the dining room chairs crashed into them with the creaking of wood and nails. Alice heard soft ticking and looked down to see forks and knives picking the locks of her chains as Rabbit rushed over to her to take off the contraption on her face.

"What happened?" Alice asked, watching in awe as knight and table fought, with each stab at the table causing blood to gush forth just as each jab at the knight caused his body, too, to bleed.

"There is absolutely no time. Hurry, grab the key! I'll get Hatter." Rabbit demanded as Alice ran to the pedestal. She was inches from the platform when she felt a hand on her ankle. She looked down to see the Red Queen with a knife, her eyes wild, ready to attack, only to get squished into a pulpy mess on the floor by a passing redwood. She ran the last remaining steps, and reaching back to grab Rabbit's outstretched hand with Rabbit dragging Hatter behind him, she grabbed the key.

Then everything went black.


	9. breaking and exiting

Author's note: Sorry it took a bit, guys. There's only one computer, and also, with the replacing of the harddrive, I had to finish getting all my plot notes moved over so I made sure I didn't leave anything out.

WARNING. THIS CHAPTER GETS BAD. There is a lot of stuff about torture going into this chapter. As a matter of fact, it gets so bad, I honestly couldn't sit down and talk to Kristof about it because I couldn't bring myself to say allowed the shit that goes down in here. If you have a weak stomach, I suggest you ask a friend what happened and wait for chapter 10, which will probably be here in the usual couple of days.

Anyway, enjoy, and thank you for the kind words and the subscriptions. It's things like that that keep me writing.

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Hatter woke on a table looking opposite a painting of the Queen of Heart's castle. Looking around, he saw he was in a corridor, and interesting, on the wall of the corridor. To his left was a long hall. To his right was Rabbit. He sat up, and slit down the wall to the floor, pulling himself into a standing motion. Now on the base of gravity he should be at, he turned to look at his surroundings. The walls were a kind of mucky brown color, distorted with varying molds and sticky goos, brick-walled and dead. He noticed that in each direction they seemed to stretch on forever. Looking closer, he realized this was an optical illusion. They were actually covered in long sheets of mirrors in places, made to reflect and refract the room, so it was all the more confusing. What wasn't covered with mirrors was covered in clocks. What wasn't covered in clocks was covered in giant iron doors almost as tall as the wall itself, with a kind of window in each made of iron bars. Red light filtered out from the small holes between the bars, and disturbing sounds of metal grating or people's muffled screaming. The clocks seemed to be running backwards in no particular pattern, which struck Hatter both as obvious and unsettling. He started to walk this way and that, seeing down at one hend a bunch of paths branching out, and in the other, a tube that seemed to be spinning slowly, pointing to other paths and empty areas of space. Then he noticed something even more unsettling than the clocks; what he didn't see what Alice.

"Rabbit, wake up. Wake up!" Hatter ran over to Rabbit and started shaking him, pulling him onto the actual floor. Rabbit, now almost as tall as him even not counting the ears, opened his eyes. He looked almost human now, with still the fur of a rabbit and the bent legs of one, but with a human-esque face and the hands and height he needed. His eyes were still a white rabbit's red, however, and so it was a little creepy when his eyes shot open suddenly and he stepped free of Hatter, looking at his surroundings. Then he turned to Hatter.

"Where's Alice?" his voice sounded deeper, and more hurried. He was obviously set on edge, his voice held with it some of the whine of his usual voice in it's tones. His hands flew up to grip Hatter's collar in his sudden terror.

"I don't know! How should I know?!" Hatter's voice was frantic; Rabbit was almost choking him. Realizing he was hurting his friend, he let go, and took a few steps around. When he spoke again, he moved very close to Hatter, his voice barely a whisper.

"Do you know where this is?"

"...No..." Hatter answered, now very nervous.

"This is where the Tweedles reside."

Hatter's heart rate doubled with the realization of Rabbit's words. They held still for a moment before he asked, "What do we do?"

"We walk. Carefully."

Hatter pointed to the direction that branched off, Rabbit nodded, and they started walking. Sadly, this place did not give the comfort of silence as the Pale Realms had; their shoes, far from being silent, echoed of the hall of stone, mirrors, and metal. Occasionally looking into the rooms made them want to vomit, but also further enforced Rabbit's correct idea that this was where the Tweedles lived. People hung from chains coming from a black ceiling, covered in blood both theirs and not theirs. Women and men tied to beds, tables, and chairs, forced into positions for everything from the odd-shaped instruments strewn about the rooms to most likely the Tweedles themselves to be easily entered into any and all orifices. Fish, reptiles, mammals, and in some cases free body parts were captured or in tanks. There were no cushions on any of the furniture, instead, metal frames, some going as far as to have spikes instead of springs, littered the rooms. What disgusted them further was that almost every surface, even the ones that looked as though they were fatal, were covered in dried blood and cum.

"This is... beyond sick..." Hatter breathed. He had long since abandoned his looking into rooms out of curiosity, but every now and then to see if this or that was a stair, or a sudden sound made him turn his head, he would accidentally see inside to something that made him wish he had never been here.

"The Tweedles are not known for their mercy. They are known for there tastes." Rabbit's voice was harsh and serious. He took a chance to look into a room for a way out, shuddered, then grabbed Hatter's coat. "In here. I think I can open it... There seems to be a staircase."

He walked over to the door and slipped his long, thin arm inside. With a click and a low squeak, the door edged open. Inside was a person who seemed to be a child at first, then they noticed that their limps were just missing a few joints, with a mask over his face made of gears and metal. It, for the naked person had the gentiles of both genders and didn't appear to be human, seemed to be dead. They left it there, giving it a piteous look but able to do nothing else, and then crept up the stairs.

At the top was a room much like the one they'd come from, only it seemed to be empty. The walls were still the same stone and dirty mold, but instead of being covered in blood, it had been carved into varying pleas of help and agony, as well as a few warnings from what seemed to be the Tweedles themselves. On one wall written in what seemed to be blood and intestine fluid, spattered with cum and more blood, and in very big letters were 'YOUR NEXT.'

"Well what have we here?" The oily voice made Hatter and Rabbit jump. They didn't bother turning quickly, knowing it didn't matter at that point if they turned quickly or slowly. However, when they finally did turn around, they saw nothing there.

"I can't say what we have here, because I can't see what here there is to be." Hatter said, for the first time not feeing nervous, instead only feeling confused.

As if in answer to his remark the air in front of them seemed to shift. Actually, it was more like a ripple. A cloak of air opened and revealed beneath it a skeletal creature barely covered by gray and black flesh. The face was still hidden by the hood of the cloak, but with the pulling back of the cloth the clear ripples became dark and tangible, showing that, like the form beneath, it was in fact a black substance. Arms were produced from no where, and the Phantasmagora floated up into a upper corner of the room, crossing his newly retrieved arms over his chest. A bony finger tapped the upper arm thoughtfully, and the cloaked head tilted to the side, pondering. From within the shadows of black there was nothing, while the mouth and eyes appeared in a separate face buried in the thing's stomach. These opened wide, an icy blue, and grinned a sharp tooth grin at the comrades standing in front of it.

"I ask again, what have we here?" The Phantasmagora's voice was thick, and as it spoke, little drops of some liquid oozed slowly from it's mouth.

"Hatter, formerly known as Mad, and White Rabbit." Hatter answered. Rabbit seemed far too afraid of this place to speak.

"Indeed we do." the voice became quieter, thinking. "And what brings you to the Home of the Tweedles?"

"Please do not record this, Phantasmagora!" Rabbit had found his voice, but the scared squeak was not very reassuring. "We did not mean to come here!"

"Alice had grabbed a key-" Hatter began.

"Alice?" The Phantasmagora raised an eyebrow, and from beneath the hood, there was a flash of eyes opening, and then closing quickly. Hatter cursed himself for letting it slip in his fear. "Well this is interesting."

"Please, Phantasmagora, do not spy on this. It is of the utmost importance that we find Alice and get out of here... March Hare is trying to take over the land and-"

"I am perfectly aware of what March Hare is doing." His voice took a tone of annoyance that Hatter would dare suggest he didn't know the goings on of something in Wonderland.

"Then you know of how important it is that Alice's identity not be known!" Hatter quickly threw back, trying to play on this break in it's pride. "Surely, one so all seeing as you can understand that if anyone besides a Queen or King of Cards holds the throne, let alone anyone besides the actual Queen of Hearts, that the land will break."

The dark, selfish creature seemed thoughtful at this, and tapped his chin, or where the chin should have been against the hood. "There is truth to this, I cannot deny. But I cannot help you with the location of Alice."

"But you know everything that goes on in-"

"I am aware of what I know and do not know, Hatter!" The words were spat in rage. "But You also know that Alice is not part of our world! And besides... I require payment, and you seem to have none."

"I...." Hatter started.

"You can have my watch." Rabbit spoke his voice suddenly calm. Hatter looked over at his friend, his eyes unbelieving. Rabbit looked back, his eyes sure, and nodded, mouthing the words, 'it's okay'. Then he looked back at the creature holding them captive with his promises of knowledge unknown. "My golden watch. You can have it." He brought it from his pocket and held it up. Shown in the strange glow that emanated from the room's walls, the watch Rabbit had carried with him all his life sparkled as it turned with a life almost of it's own. The hand that was more like a claw reached out and took it, looking even darker against the gold of the timepiece.

"I will accept the payment." The watch disappeared somewhere in the folds of the shadows of robes, and eyes beneath the hood of the clothing glowed blue. The voice that then emanated seemed to come from no where, and was different that the sticky dark voice of the lower mouth. This echoed with centuries of knowing.

"I am seeing the Tweedles first, to check on their activities... Hmm... The usual torture of the victims... they are a level above you and at the other side of the compound... And... oh..." here the echo became more serious. "It would seem they have a blond woman..."

"What is she wearing?" Hatter inquired fiercely.

"She's not wearing anything, they've stripped her long before... Her hair is long and blond, her skin is fair..."

"Alice..." Hatter's voice was breaking. Rabbit's face matched Hatter's voice.

"They're... cutting off her face... She's still alive... Oh my god they're eating it... Now they're... cutting holes into her body and... I'm sorry..." the eyes in the emptiness turned orange, and seemed sad. "I shouldn't continue..."

Hatter fell to the ground. This was the second impossible hurt he had felt in one hour, and it felt like it was literally destroying him. Rabbit, too, leaned against the wall, his face abashed, not even caring that his suit was white and the wall was filthy. There was silence like this while Hatter felt like vomiting all over the floor and the Phantasmagora floated in respectful silence. Then his echoing voice spoke.

"They did not know of her identity. This was not a crime to hurt her, it was merely one of their usual operations. I know this doesn't really help, but at least, her secret is safe. I can... show you the way out of here, if it would help... You have paid me, and I have given you nothing that deserved such payment..."

Rabbit nodded, and the lower face of the Phantasmagora retreated into it's body, and then appeared on the wall, and then shifted out of view into another room. When it reappeared, it had with it an interesting spider. The abdomen of the spider was a porcelain face, while the head and legs were of a spider. It currently hung on the wall looking like some bizarre decoration, it's legs curled, not looking much like a spider. It glowed with a soft, warming light.

"This is a lantern spider. It will show you the way. Stick close, and don't follow any other lantern spiders. They will lead you array, possibly to the Tweedles themselves. This one is called Marjoram, and she will be kind to you."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, even under these circumstances. I have been told of what you are doing for us all, and I would be honored to help you find your way out of this evil place."

The small voice of the female lantern spider found it's way deep inside Hatter's heart and gave him the strength to stand. He knew he had a job to do, and what that job was was to get to the Court of Clubs and stop this war. "Thank you, Marjoram. It means a lot to us to hear thanks."

The tiny head nodded, and the spider dropped to the floor. Now she did look like a spider, with her legs spread for walking on and the face on her back looking more like a spider's pattern as she walked. They bid the Phantasmagora goodbye, and the cloak of shadows wrapped once again around the black bones and disappeared into the air.

The lantern spider walked quickly and quietly, looking around each corner for guards or worse. Once, they thought they have come upon the Tweedles, but instead it was a strange, disturbing machine that dropped the corpses into a kind of meat grinder, threw in some gears and metal, and out popped robots that seemed to be lifeless.

"Those are the Tweedle's Puppets." the voice was soft, and in a kind of disturbed awe. "It was Dee's idea... Why not turn the dead things into something that can do more work? They are dangerous when they are on... I pray that we don't run into any of them."

Luck seemed to be on their side, for when they did, they were engaged with other lantern spiders, spiders that seemed friendly to Marjoram and did not enlighten the guards of their presence. Once past the room of mirrors that'd been board to the Puppets, Rabbit questioned this.

"Marjoram, surely not all spiders here are friendly to each other?"

"Of course not," Marjoram answered. "But everyone hates the Puppets, and the Tweedles who make them."

They continued to walk down the halls. The strange sounds were being replaced with the sound of machines, of whirs and metal blades spinning fast. Suddenly, Hatter stopped, and looked in a door. Inside was a woman bound, blindfolded, and gagged. Her hair was brown, and she had her clothes torn off, and parts of her skin was peeling away. Hatter knew he could do nothing for her, and she looked nothing like Alice, but he couldn't stop this pain his chest, and she had made it impossible for him to go on, without...

"Marjoram?" The spider stopped and turn her head back to look at him. "Take me to see Alice... Please..."

"The Tweedles will be walking the halls now, checking on their victims. It's too dangerous." She began walking forward again.

"Please..."

Marjoram stopped, and didn't look at anything. Rabbit, too, stopped, and looked at Marjoram, waiting for a response, before the glowing body changed directions and silently went off down a side path, through a maze of gears.

"We'll have to be careful and quiet, taking the back ways, so that Dee and Dum don't find us."

Wordlessly grateful for the thing Marjoram was doing them, he hurried after her, stepping carefully so his shoes didn't echo on the stone floor. They went through paths that sloped upwards, until when Hatter was about to round a bend Marjoram and Rabbit grabbed his coat and pulled him into the shadows.

The Tweedles, covered in blood, were walking down the hallway. Each of them strolled completely naked, even without their gloves and hats, their arms around their shoulders. They had apparently just come from a room, because they were both fully erect. Dee was talking to Dum, very close to his ear, but loud enough that Hatter heard them as they passed.

"Totally sexy the way you made that girl scream, Dum..." his hand was slipping down from his shoulder to his ass, and giving it a squeeze and a slap, which made Dum moan softly.

"Careful, Dee," he said, his voice a slight whine in it because of his current state of arousal, "I don't want to cum yet..."

"Don't worry Dum," cooed Dee slightly, placing a kiss on Dum's neck. "I'll make sure you don't until my cocks in your ass."

Marjoram stepped from behind the wall after they had entered another room, her eyes unreadable. "I'm fine with many things in Wonderland." she said, her voice quiet. "I am not fine with them."

Hatter's hands clenched into tight fists, and he almost ran after them into the room to try and kill them, but Marjoram stopped him with a tug on his pants. Rabbit pointed in the direction they'd come from, and the three ran down the hall. Marjoram was leading the way, reaching out into the air around her to try and feel for the scent of where the Tweedles had been when the Phantasmagora had seen them. Toward the end of the hall, near where the sounds of electricity were heard, Marjoram pointed to a room and slipped inside, opening it for them.

The whole run, Hatter had been hoping they were wrong. That the Phantasmagora had seem something else, that maybe, just maybe, the room would be empty, or the hair would be the wrong color, wrong length, that something would give it away that he was wrong... but no. There, on a metal bed of spikes lay the body of a woman, with pale skin and lots of curves to her body. Her hair was still there, spread about her head like she was sleeping. Except her face was gone and there were holes in her body with varying fluids of blood and sex still dripping out of them.

Hatter knelt to the floor and looked at her, sobbing. He began to reach out for her, but he couldn't, couldn't bring himself to touch her. The whole thing seemed to cruel. It just wasn't fair at all. He looked at the floor, his tears falling to it, and found himself wailing. He felt arms around him, and there was Rabbit, his eyes also filled with tears, but trying to calm Hatter down at it was.

"My friend... we can live for her..."

Hatter nodded, and with a last look at the corpse on the bed, he stood. The sound of people coming made everyone freeze.

"Puppets are coming, they're taking the body. We have to move." Marjoram said urgently.

"No, no, I won't leave her! I won't let her become one of those... things..." Hatter had suddenly become frantic. The slight calm he had shown with Rabbit's help was fading fast. Rabbit was only able to drag him around a corner and place a hand over his mouth just as the Puppet Guard was shuffling over to claim their next recruit. The next ten minutes saw the three of them down a forgotten dead end Marjoram had brought them to to rest and eat the little clean food she had been able to sneak for them, something, in hopes, that would help Hatter regain himself.

"Hatter, you're not okay anymore, are you?" White Rabbit was looking at him. He had half a piece of bread in his hand, and his eyes looked worried under the shadows of his ears. Marjoram was high on the wall, seemingly sleeping, but they knew she was keeping watch for them, asking her friends with her thoughts of where the Tweedles and the Puppet Guard currently were.

"I... I hope so, Rabbit." his voice was shaking. He took another drought of the water, and swallowed hard, finding it difficult to do. "I don't think I'm bad to being Mad Hatter, but this has been... an awful day..."

"Alice meant a lot to us all." Rabbit nodded.

Hatter shook his head. "It's just not fair... After having to be reminded of that awful thing that March Hare did... And then to have her taken from me... again..."

"Again?"

He still didn't look at Rabbit. "She was so... Alive, Rabbit. She was the first thing I'd seen in so long that reminded me how it had once been... A place of joy. A place of honor, and goodness. You remember, don't you?"

"Yes." his eyes had begun to shine with the memories. "I remember hopping along the fields that never ended outside the Queen's Castle. That was back when there was a party every night... What happened, do you think, to end all that?"

"Well, I don't think the Spades hindered it any..." Hatter sighed. "But when the Creator left... And Alice... Her eyes so full of hope and happiness. She was so ready to sit down with me and enjoy my garden. The whole thing... it made me nervous. Feel a way I hadn't felt before, like the sun had just gotten brighter. I wanted to tell her, 'don't leave! you can stay here forever!' What did I do? Stare at her until she was comfortable and then tell her her hair needed cutting."

Rabbit laughed softly while Hatter took another gulp of water. He smiled weakly at his friend, but then his smile quickly faded and he went on. "And then, here she is again. Finally, I can be something for her. She knows I'm willing to protect her, because I did that without even knowing who she was. She knows I'm willing to be there for her, because I travel with her without wanting anything. I was even able to kiss her, without her pulling away. And I felt like, maybe, I was being able to prove myself a better man, a man who wouldn't run from his feelings... And now she's gone." Tears fell from his face anew as he looked at the almost empty glass. "She's gone... and I can't be anything for her."

Rabbit looked at Hatter with sympathy and sadness, then put a hand on his shoulder. He leaned close, so that Hatter would hear his words even in his sadness, and them spoke firmly, his voice deep and strong. "What March Hare did to you was wrong. I can't change that. What I can change is how you feel about it. Alice's death doesn't have to be in vain. We can still go and stop the people who did it from hurting anymore of our friends." He made Hatter look at him here. "We can still fight."

Hatter look a long look at Rabbit, Rabbit's red eyes piecing into his own green ones, and nodded. Hatter, beaten, torn, and having just having had his mind broken twice, looked around at the room in the place where countless people had been tortured and murdered, and got up.

"Let's go." He called up to Marjoram. She opened her many eyes and looked down at him.

"I'm glad to hear you say that." Marjoram's eyes were smiling. She jumped down from the wall. "Come on, we've got to hurry. It's 5:45 now, and the Tweedles will have the whole place walked around by 6. Luckily, the way is not far. Run!"

Marjoram opened the door back to the main corridors, and they started running. Hatter noticed the path seemed to be sloping further and further up. He wondered if they would reach the roof soon. The pathways were twisting sharply now, and it was all Hatter could do to not run into the walls. He found in doing this once when he couldn't control it that here the walls were less filthy, as though the Tweedles had not gotten around to defacing this part of their asylum. Turning a corner sharply, they came to a large empty space with time numerals and stepping stones that lead all the way to a large platform with a door. Along the walls of this empty space, for somehow there were walls, were hundreds of lantern spiders. With the approach of the three, more and more lantern spiders seemed to wake up and hang forward on the walls. They didn't waste any time here, and they continued running. As they did, the Lantern Spiders threw jeers at them.

"Why are you following her? she's just a child." was the argument of a spider who's abdomen's face was wrinkly.

"She could be a spy..." was the deep voice of a spider near Hatter. He ignored this, trusting Marjoram, and hurried on.

"She's going to end up killing you..." was the high voice of a young spider, further ahead.

"And how is she going do that?" was Hatter's retort. The spiders were silent after that, watching the three figures pass, and jump from platform to platform.

As they rose, the walls and the lantern spiders dropped away, until even their glow was gone, and only the soft star-like light from Marjoram was there to light their way. The path was more stable here, though, and when they reached the top, two great eyes were looking on them.

"Hatter..." the eyes seemed old, despite the fact there was no face, or even eyelids to go with them. Just two great floating eyeballs in am empty space above a door. "I see you are still doing well."

Hatter squinted, then allowed him to venture a guess of what this could be. "Time?"

"Indeed, Hatter." Came the great voice from beyond the strings of the universe. "You and the Queen of Hearts killed me long ago, but here I live, and I am going backwards slowly. However... with the coming of Alice, I am paused."

"Alice is dead, sir." Hatter said, his voice breaking.

"Indeed? Well, that is interesting..." his voice did not seem to show much of his feelings, but the lidless eyes seemed thoughtful. "In any case, I must tell you...

"This door leads to the Court of Clubs. There you must tell the King and Queen are emissaries of the Pale Realm. They will believe you. Go, quickly. And do not, I repeat, do not try and piece me back together."

"Why not?" Hatter asked.

"It is only in this form that the endgame can be completed. You will see in time.. Now, go."

They walked to the door and opened it, seeing a green circling orb beyond it. Hatter and Rabbit turned back to Marjoram. Hatter felt an emptiness in his chest with the pain of this day, this incredibly long day, and Marjoram had done her best to lead them through what could have been an awful time. He knelt before her.

"Come with us, Marjoram."

The tiny spider shook her head, her many eyes looking somewhat sad. "No, my place is here." She held out one slightly curling leg, and placed it on his hands. "I will find the body of the girl and keep it safe for you." she promised, her voice quiet.

"They'll wonder why you're doing that. They may try and torture you." Hatter answered, his half-dead voice worried for the creature.

She laughed softly and her eyes smiled. "Hatter, I am to stay here, in this place, full of rape and death. What more could happen to me?"

Hatter nodded, stood, and found Rabbit stepping through the door. He quickly followed, with a last look at the female lantern spider beginning to jump back down the steps.

He felt like his stomach was being pulled from his body, and then before he could figure out how to breathe he was slamming hard into the rock hard ground. He looked around this time to find himself on the outside of a great stone wall, with clubs etched into it in a deep black. The doors he had landed in front of were large, and seemed to breach the clouds above. He stood, rubbing the back of his head, and found his hat had fallen off on the trip. He found it next to him, shook out his hair, and placed it once more on top of his head. He sighed, feeling his shortened locks and having had just been reminded why they were short. Shaking his head to clear his mind he stood.

"Rabbit, where do you think this is?" Hatter asked, trying to figure it out. As far as he could see, it was empty plains for ever around.

"I think... it's somewhere behind the Queen's Castle..." he answered, his voice sounding amazed and questioning.

"I didn't think there was anything behind the Queen's Castle."

"Neither did I."

He brushed off his pants, and approached the door. A guard opened a smaller door inside the door, just taller than Hatter with his hat, and looked him over.

"Yes?" it was a three of clubs. "Why have you come to the Court of Clubs?"

Hatter cleared his throat. "We are the emissaries from the Pale Realm."

"Ah yes, we've been expecting you. Please, right this way..."

Hatter tried to keep his surprise at how well it had worked hidden as the door closed and then fully opened, revealing a hall. Up and down the hall were many paintings, many rooms, many doors, many decorations, and of course tons of Club carvings. Chandeliers of club shapes hung form the ceiling. All the candelabras were shaped like clubs. On very table, on every molding, indeed even on the very floors were black and white clubs. All the photos were of the Queen and King, Jack and Ace in varying battle poses. The last picture, hung over another great set of doors at the end of the hallway, looking down on them in a larger than life fashion, was painted the royal family.

The Jack was on the far left, holding a long staff, topped with a club ornament and a curved blade. His outfit was simple, made of cloth and hanging slightly form fitting on his thin body. It was a black and light gray uniform, the main cloth being light gray and the knee high armored boots and cord tied around his waist as a belt both black. The shoulder that held the weapon had a sash around it, gold, with red clubs in it. his body was angled so he was leaning on the long spear. His hair was long, almost to his mid back, a dark brown wave that curved with his shoulders and had a few strands hanging in front of his face, adding to the secretive air about him. The smile on his face was a sly one.

Next to him was the Queen, her dress long, almost to the floor, the skirt made of many scarves ranging between black to white to red. The one in front, the one that twisted around her whole waist before falling with the rest, was white and had 4 great black clubs sewn into them. Her blouse was red with white clubs all over it, with a neck adornment composed of black and white diagonal lines, starting from a line that went down the center of her body from neck to chest. Where the lines met cloth on her shoulders armor started on her arms, and in her hand was a sword. A crown of clubs was on her head, and her hair spilled from the crown under a head dress to frame her clear, pale face.

Staying close to his bride was her husband, the King of Clubs. His armored torso had pecks covered in black clubs set into metal, the rest of the protection made to be a molding of his solid stomach. Metal shoulder guards ended in a layered effect of armor down to gauntlets on his wrists and hands. His legs were covered first with thigh cards with more of the same clubs all over them from his chest armor in a diagonally-lined pattern, and then great boots ended in points atop his knees and clubs etched into the knees. His hair was shoulder length and a straight line. His strong face was accented by a thin mouth and a straw jaw. In his hand was a longsword, and he had it in the floor, leaning on it with an angled body like a staff.

On the other side of the King, looking larger than life, was the Ace. His was a bodysuit that covered every inch of his body. His folded arms were muscular, as were his slightly parted legs. The white cloth was so skintight every muscled was perfectly defined, and he was rippling with them. His face held the only bit of cover; the sign of the Clubs. Together they made an imposing picture, and Hatter wondered if they would be like that when he first saw them.

He was half right. The doors to the Throne Room opened, and as they did, movement erupted. Dancers with cloth were weaving about the room. Silk lines of black and gray hung from the white walls. Every now and then there were splashes of red, perhaps from a Lady's clothing, or from the movement of a dancer with a red ribbon. The light was low, glistening off the swords that hung on the wall, and of the silk paintings of battles won. Weaving in and out of the crowd of courtiers or dancing with the ribbons, depending on the gender, were the Diamond card guards. The men were standing at attention, while the girls, their white skirts twirling, watched the men with half closed eyes. The Queen and King sat on high thrones, looking bored but regal, while the Ace and the Jack stood next to the King and Queen, respectively. As the Three of Clubs brought them into the room, the King held up his hand and the dancing stopped.

"Who attends my Court?" the deep voice echoed through the halls. Diamond and Club alike grabbed the banners from the ceiling and crawled up out of sight, signaling a pause in the music.

"Emissaries, my Lord." the Three of Clubs answered. "I knew you were expecting them."

"Ah, yes. I remember the Ambassador mentioned the emissaries would be arriving. Come then, join the feast! We have guests, and we must entertain them."

He clapped twice, and then put his hand on his Queen's. Looking at her to smile, he then let his eyes go back to the Dancers, who had come down from the ceiling and resumed their graceful steps.

"The Ambassador?" Rabbit asked the Three.

"Yes." Three replied. "She is standing there, on the far side of the Jack."

Hatter and Rabbit looked. There, in a long body hugging dress of white, with her long hair left down and a bouquet of Clubs at one of her hips where the folds of the skirt started, stood Alice.


	10. betwixt and between

welcome back to the 10th chapter of Madness Most Royal. As you're probably realizing, this is a long book. Well, I have good news for some and bad news for others, it's almost over, or at least, it's a little more than half at worst. I'm afraid to give away too much up here, but in the next chapter's opening I'm going to answer questions a few people have had for me about some of the music and meanings in the story. For now, enjoy.

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A soft sound woke her up. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes and pulling her hair away from her face. As she blinked into clarity, she looked around to see that she seemed to be laying on nothing. The world was light, soft blue and moving, radiating from two greater lights at ends of the 'room'. She looked at her own form, still dirty, her hand still clasping the Key of Clubs tightly.

The soft sound happened again, and she turned toward it, realizing it was the sound of someone clearing their throat. Unsurprisingly, Caterpillar sat near-by, surrounded by books and himself great stack, reading one intently. However, surprisingly, he was not alone. A tall man, with red curling hair under a large black cap with a long beard to match, and the robes of an ancient scholar, stood next to him, glasses on his face as he read the text also over Caterpillar's shoulder. He seemed to be of an aged healthiness, appearing to be in his late 60's, with slight wrinkles around his eyes and mouth and strong hands. As Alice sat up, both Caterpillar and the unknown man stopped reading and smiled.

"Hello Alice." Caterpillar said, closing the book and putting it on another pile of books that lay around him, at least it things can lay on a ground that doesn't look like it's there. They all seemed to be in odd, alien text, including the one that Caterpillar and his friend had just been reading. The man with red hair stayed quiet, surveying Alice with a kind smile.

"What is this place?" Alice asked, having trouble walking forward on a ground that was just bottomless bright lights. "This is a dream, isn't it?"

"This is a dream scape." spoke bearded man very slowly and carefully. He seemed to choose all his words with care. Slipping off his glasses he continued. "We brought you here, fearing where the key was taking you in it's... betrayal of itself."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked.

The man continued, pacing as slowly as he spoke, letting Caterpillar chose another book to start on and flip through it. "The key... the Key of Clubs you grabbed while holding onto Hatter and Rabbit... Was meant to take you directly to the Court of Clubs. However, do to unforeseen circumstances, it was unable to do that, and had a lapse of judgment, taking you instead to a random place it could not control. We, sensing this, brought you here."

Alice noticed that, while he talked and walked, he had a habit of punctuating his words and adding further movement by actually moving his arms and hands, pointing to her when talking about her, and bringing his eyeglass prong to his chin when thinking on what had happened. She didn't know why, but she felt a liking to this man, as though he seemed to exude calm and knowledge.

A burning desire for questions lead her away from thinking on that too long. "Where was I going to end up? What 'circumstances'? And sir, if you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

The man smiled, and looked at Caterpillar, who had looked at him and smiled the same secret smile. Together they looked back at Alice, and it was Caterpillar who spoke. "We will answer them in that order, Alice, because once you hear the answer to the last you won't care about the first two.

"The key was taking you to the Tweedle's Asylum. Once upon a time, it was Time's Mansion, and was protected by the servants who lived there. Now it has become a place of perverse pleasure, where peoples' skins are ripped off and their bodies molested in holes they did not have previously. The key did this because, well, of you. Because of who you are in Wonderland. You have a power the average resident does not posses, because of where you come from, and the Key could not handle teleporting someone of such importance. In it's confusion with itself, it did what it never meant to do, and was taking you somewhere that could hurt you. As for this man, I will let him introduce himself, because it gives me great privilege to simply be in his presence. Introducing him is a pleasure I do not wish to take from him."

Caterpillar bowed his head and half his body to him, to which the man returned in kind, and then looked at Alice. He placed his glasses in one of the pockets of his robes, took off his wide hat and swept it forward as he bowed in a graceful manner, before standing and placing it back on his head.

"Alice, it is indeed an honor to finally meet you face to face. My name is Dr. Johann Georg Faust. I am an alchemist. You may know me as the Creator."

Alice's mouth dropped, then raised itself into a wide smile. She had never felt so excited, so humbled, so happy, and so curious all at once.

"Sir... I... I can't believe... You're... This is... And you're... I am..." She shuddered for about 5 minutes before she was finally able to calm down, the others trying hard to hold in their laughter, before finally, and after a cup of coffee Caterpillar had produced from no where, flavored like vanilla and chocolate, she was finally able to speak again.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking. I have heard of you, in my world. I was told you died."

Faust began to smile and sigh, sitting down on another pile of the books that seemed to be everywhere, and placed his hands on his knees. "Well, now, what do you know?"

"They said that you were dabbling in the black arts, and that your life was that of the legend they spoke of, that you were destroyed by demons, and that you had servants who were animals who became human. They said you died between 1540 and 1541, in a great explosion."

"My my... taken liberties haven't they...?" he chuckled lightly, and then began. "My dear girl, I was never a dabbler in black arts. I am a man... of science. Of a certain kind of special magic that realizes that the rules of the universe is merely a structure that we have built ourselves into. I realized long ago how to bend those rules, universe willing to me. What the people saw was the beginnings of Wonderland, of being able to take something and make it something entirely different. Just as Nicholas Flammel defied the world to make the Sorcerer's Stone, and is still out there somewhere, I defied the world to make my own, a place that I had originally hoped could do what no country I had been in seemed to do, that is, have an actual sense of order and reason and not just a madhouse pretending to have a symbolic of such."

"Yes, I know how you feel..." Alice said thoughtfully, remembering how she had hated the rising towers in the fog, and how none of the rules that existed to control her house seemed to have no base other than someone had said so.

"As for my death, Alice, there was a great explosion. But it was not my death that was the happening that day. It was the explosion of life, the particles colliding like never before in order to create the greatest alchemical achievement of my time, perhaps of all time, Wonderland. The land of all my dreams combined in order to become a tangible thing with actual living creatures, a tribute to everything I have ever stood for, and a truth to hold over the heads of all who said I was a liar and a fraud." His eyes were shining with hope and light, and as he finished his last, he placed a hand on Caterpillar's shoulder, with a nod. "This, my friend here, he is no lie."

"But they found a body!" Alice blurted out. "They said it was horribly mangled..."

"Alice I wasn't exactly alone in the room. I am very sad to say that was an assistant of mine from long ago. I had told him to get back, fearing the worst, but he could not or did not listen. While the explosion to me to this place, it destroyed him."

"So, when you left, where did you go?" Alice asked now, her voice sounding like she was beginning to piece it all together.

"Back to the world, of course. Advances had been made! And as you know, time passes much differently here. I had no way of knowing that before. My first was to take a livestock animal from here to try and have it cooked, which only succeeded in making more people believe I was in league with the devil, but did allow me to bring my family here. The last time I left was due to my grandchildren. My wife and I had aged, of course, but due to being here, it does not show on our faces nearly as bad as it could have. They were growing up, too, and my wife wanted them to see the Real world, as she called it then. She had never really thought this place to be hears, instead to be mine and she was joining me there. But our grandchildren had never seen the world we had come from, so we insisted I go back. Well, we did, and then I lost track of them. My wife ended up dying, God rest her soul in piece, and my children had lived they wanted to live. To do that, they had to not be Dr. Faust's family. I, for my part, went to go see the great alchemists of the age, see what had been done to advance it, see what could be done to improve my Wonderland. If only I had known what all would happen in my absence. I suppose I can be thankful that the Queen of Hearts, in her induced state of mind, killed Time, or else I would have come back to little or nothing. I also have to thank you."

"Me?" Alice had been drifting slightly, and now was brought back into the conversation with full force. "Why me?"

"You are a young woman by your own right, and yet you have given up your life in order to help out these lives. And you have been doing a wonderful job."

"You don't have to thank me, Sir, though it is kind. You see," here she paused, trying to think of what to say, "I consider this place more my home than I ever did the other world. These people are my friends, too."

Caterpillar smiled wide. He looked deeply touched. Faust, too, was smiling and nodding. "I am very happy to hear that from you, Alice."

"Dr. Faust, Caterpillar, there is one more thing that is bothering me, but it is not necessarily about you, but I think one of you could answer this for me."

"What is it?"

"When we were in the Red Lands, Rabbit rescued us. But when he came, he looked different. More human, and he brought with him the furniture from his house, and the trees of the woods. They were all moving and fighting for us. How is this possible?"

Caterpillar smiled a long smile and rocked back on the stack of books before he answered her, Faust allowing his mind a rest from the questions for a moment. "There is a deep, old kind of magic written in Wonderland. This land as you once knew it had no symbol of meaning, and now, as you can see, we are fairly logical, at least the most of us, even those who wish you harm. Once upon a time there were rules to Wonderland, and the most important of this was to protect the creator, and to protect your friends. Rabbit wanted to help you, so he worked with Duchess and Mock Turtle in order to wake up the trees and the house he once occupied. The ritual brought a change on him as well, one he readily accepted, because he knew it would help us all."

"Will I ever see them again?" Alice asked, sad.

"I expect so." he mused thoughtfully. "It is hard to separate them from you, after all."

"Yes but... are they safe?"

"As safe as they can be in Tweedle's Asylum.

"But come! The hour grows late, and you have to get to the Court of Clubs. I am sending you there as an Ambassador. You will tell the King and Queen what is going on in the Pale Realm and in the Red Lands. Take the Key, it will teleport you directly into the Throne Room now, in front of their Majesties. Do not be afraid, tell them. They will believe you. And tell them more are coming to help you with plans. I trust you can do well."

Faust was already handing her the key, even as Alice, suddenly close to terrified, asked a million questions. "But what if they ask why I'm not a chess piece? And what if they ask me to offer proof? What about Rabbit and... Hatter..."

They were smiling at her. "Just do what you feel!" and then they were gone.

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There were a million voices suddenly talking, and then silenced, as Alice appeared in what had to be the Throne Room in the Court of Clubs. She blinked as her eyes tried to adjust, and then looked around. In front of her, looking surprised but not ready to kill her yet, was what had to be the Royal Family. The face of the Queen looked stern, as did the King's, but Alice noticed the Jack had a sly smile on his face. He was looking her up and down in a way that made Alice shiver. She watched as he leaned in to the Queen and whispered something into her ear. The Queen's face softened a little then. Alice had little time to ponder this, because the King was speaking.

"State yourself!" The King's voice erupted in the throne room. Alice wished she had a pin, to see if she could hear it hit the ground.

"I am Dinah, Ambassador to the Court of Clubs from the Pale Realms." Alice said, her voice strong. She began to courtesy.

"Stop that motion at once! This is not the Court of Hearts, and neither I nor my wife is the Queen."

"Yes your Majesty." She did not let this falter her, and continued. "I came here by means of this key."

She held up the Key and there was a low murmur among the card court. Alice looked around her with her eyes, not daring to turn her head from Their Majesties. The Card Guards didn't look anything like the card guards she remembered. Now they appeared as tall men and woman, depending on their number (Alice noticed that numbers 2-5 seemed to be men while numbers 6-10 seemed to be women. Gender did not appear to be a boundary in who was guarding the doors), and ranging between diamond, as Alice had heard, and the clubs. The Club Card Guards, male and female, either wore nothing at all or full body suits that had been tinted the same color as their perhaps their skin had been tinted the same color as the body suits? Either way, the Clubs all carried clubs their left hand and a staff with a club shaped blade on the end. The females had shoulder length hair of dark brown almost black, and the males had no hair at all. The other different was their faces. While both possessed the strong defined face of a person who knew battle, the men had somewhat thin eyes and thin mouths, while the females had large eyes and full lips. All were very pale, paler than Alice herself. In this room, those guarding stood impossibly still, and those in the crowd either moved with purpose or didn't move at all.

The Diamond Cards, on the other hand, still dressed in the way she guessed they had in their own Court. In facial appearance they didn't differ too far from the Club Cards, but their faces all seemed a bit softer, and the men didn't shave their heads, their hair ranging from very short to just above shoulder length and straight. Most of the hair color of the diamonds was blond, but a few had platinum hair or light brown, and the broad-chested Two had soft black hair that came just above falling into his eyes in the front. The Diamonds were also wearing skin tight suits the same color as their skin, but these seemed to shine with a soft pearl sheen to them, and the red diamond shapes that punctuated their outfit shimmered even when they weren't moving. Those on duty had in their main hand was a long red staff topped with a diamond blade, and their spare hand carried a long sword shaped as much like a diamond as any completely red sword can be.

Her eyes shifted back to the King, who seemed to be pondering the news of an Ambassador in his court. The Ace walked to him and knelt so he was next to the King's ear, and whispered something. This seemed to please the King, and he continued.

"Why is it an Ambassador from the Pale Realm comes now, on the brink of war? And why do they send someone not a chess piece? The Pale Realms is still a chess board, is it not? Or does the sky over the lands lie to my eyes?"

A light laugh rose from the crowd and died quickly, waiting to see what Alice said in return. She took a deep breath, and spoke.

"It is still a chess board, Your Grace, but I am not here of my own will."

Here the King looked interested, and he motioned for her to continue. "I was acting as a recorder for negotiations between the Queen and her subjects on how the War would be started, when I overheard the Queen talking of betraying Your Majesty. She planned to go into the Land of Fire and Brimstone with an offering of two of my fellow emissaries in the hopes that March Hare would lend them his power. Then they woudl take it and overthrow you, the Spades, and the Diamonds and rule Wonderland alone."

This brought up a very loud murmur among the court, as Alice saw many people, cards and animal creatures alike turn to each other and begin to argue and discuss the news. The King stood, casting an angry look over his court, and everyone fell silent. The King began to pace. Then he turned back to where the Queen, Ace, and Jack waited.

"Spymaster!" The Jack stepped forward, and knelt low with a sweeping motion of his free arm, placing his spear on the floor with his movement. "Look through your eyes and tell me what you see of this."

The Jack stood, not taking his spear with him, and his eyes flashed gold, staying that way. "I see the Pale Realms empty, with only the King and a few pawns left. The bodies of the white pieces are strewn about the Red Lands, tortured first. The Key is indeed missing from the Pedestal of Clubs, and the Red Queen and King are angry about people having escaped." His eyes went back to the brown they were. "Dinah is right. I only blame myself for not knowing sooner, Your Majesty. We could have prevented such a loss from the Pale Realms."

"Yours is not the shoulders we need to place the blame. How could we think or long time allies would turn against us? Rise, Jack of Clubs. We place no blame on you." The Jack rose, and the King placed his hand on his shoulder, nodding. Then he turned back to Alice as the Jack picked up his spear and took his place again on the platform. "Ambassador Dinah, we thank you. You have cost our people losses we cannot imagine with your warning. Let us treat you to a celebration and a feast."

The King sat on the Throne again, and clapped his hands twice. Red, gray, and black ribbons fell from the ceiling, and the females of both suits of cards from the crowd twirled forward, producing from no where fans and ribbons, dancing gracefully to a drum based music. Their dance and the beat seemed to tell of battles of old, fought bravely and won gloriously. Soon the whole room was buzzing with talk and laughter. Here Alice bowed before the King, and then raised herself when the King gave his sign.

"Your Majesty, the of my fellows have taken longer to escape the clutches of danger, but I feel they will come here when they can. They should have information and know how in order to help us do something about the Red Lands. WIll you welcome them when they come?"

"Of course I will. People such as you will always be welcomed, as long as I am King." She bowed again, thanking him.

"One more thing, if it would not trouble you, Your Majesty. I have not eaten in a while, and I am sure my fellows have not either. And I am dirty and worn from not having been able to change clothes since before I left. I wonder... Could I perhaps have a change of attire, and that the feast wait until my comrades appear?"

"I give my word to both. Four!" A male club with a stern but kind face appeared and bowed to both of them. "Take Ambassador Dinah to the Royal Tailor in order to get a fresh outfit for her, she seems to be about the same build as a Diamond so there should be something, and then after that deposit her in the place of honor next to the Jack in order to await the arrival of her fellows."

The Four bowed again, and held out an arm to her. "My lady, if you would please?"

She smiled and took his hand, and with a grateful not to the King, walked out into the halls.


	11. moonlit room

hey guys, sorry it took me so long. The next couple chapters will also take me a while because I'm writing them blind. I wear contacts, and mysteriously my contacts disappeared a few nights ago. So I have to sit very close to the screen to write and turn up the font high, as I do not have glasses. Hopefully I can get then ordered to my house so I won't have to find a ride out to the doctor's office. Until, then, though, it'll be hard for me to write.

A warning about this chapter, there's very detailed sex. If you don't want to read sex don't read this. Everyone else, enjoy.

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Hatter was nervously pacing outside the door. It was late at night, or perhaps early in the morning? He should be asleep, he was sure she was. Yet, somehow he could not, drawn to this spot, wondering the words he would say when he eventually knocked on the door and woke Alice up.

Far off in the throne room, the sound of laughter and dancing threatened to draw him from his post back into the party, where the Jack of Clubs had been drunkenly hitting on him. Hatter shook his head of this and kept running over the words in his head. It wasn't that the Jack wasn't attractive, it was that, first, he didn't hit on people who only hit on him when drunk, and two, he wasn't interested. The only person he was interested in was on the other side of the thick club-covered door.

He took off his head and ran his fingers through his hair. As he turned once more in his slow pace he caught his reflection. He had been changed into a white suit-of-state, a uniform of importance with a long cloak patterned with black checks and clubs on it. He looked clean and posh, with his skin brought out by the clean black and white of his clothes. Currently his lips looked too red and his eyes too green, possibly because of how nervous he was. He knew he had to talk to Alice, there was so much left unsaid over the feast, which had been delicious but too loud for conversation. Alice had barely looked at him from across the table, speaking instead to Rabbit about what had been going on, and went to bed early. Rabbit had not joined her, opting instead for more talk and wine. Now he was quite drunk, making a fool of himself by trying to learn to dance like the female club cards could.

"I've just got to do this. I've just got to talk to her, explain my feelings... And stop talking to myself like this people will think I'm _really_ crazy."

He stopped in front of the door, gulped, raised his hand, lowered it again, groaned lightly and grabbed the sides of his head in frustatrion for a moment before he straightened himself, breathed deeply, cleared his throat, and then actually knocked.

"Who is it?" came the sleepy sounding voice from inside the chamber.

"It's Hatter. I wondered if we could speak." he said, his voice sounding more calm then he felt. Silence for a moment, then, "One moment please." Hatter ignored the feeling of running and instead stood and waited. The door opened, and Hatter gulped.

In the wide windows behind her, the moonlight lit the palace grounds of fields and club shaped trees, even club shaped ponds. That same moonlight filtered in through the windows and turned Alice's skin into perfectly white ivory. Her hair was down, and was thrown over her left shoulder, covering that side of her down to her stomach, with parts refusing to stay in such an arrangement falling down her back. She had a thin lace robe on, but beneath it he could see (for the robe was not opaque or tied) a low cut thin nightgown of silk, going to her mid thighs. It was off white, kind of creme colored from what he could tell, and a shade lighter than her skin. He found it hard to tear his eyes away from her exposed legs, and when he did, he saw her blue eyes looking deeply blue and questioning beneath her lashes. He cleared his throat again quickly, looking off balance. She then tilted her head and crossed her arms over her chest, looking mildly annoyed, but unaware as to what he had been staring at. "What can I do for you?"

"I... Can I come in?"

Alice stepped aside and Hatter entered, taking off his Hat and setting it onto the table. He looked at it. It was no longer the hat he had first set out with, and a slight smile graced his face. "I guess I'll never sell it now."

"Did you really come to tell me about hats?" she asked blandly, closing the door and locking it.

"No! No... Alice, there's something I've been meaning to tell you."

"I already know about you and March Hare, I was there too."

"No it's not that... And I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I should have trusted you with such things."

She sighed, and moved to sit down on the bed. "Well, I guess we're even in the 'should have told you' department."

He laughed, and that won a smile from her. He chose to sit in a chair across from her, in front of the window. In this view she was in full show of the moonlight, and he was silhouetted against it, with only his open smile and his eyes shining. "You look so beautiful, Alice." He saw her blush, and look away. "I was so worried about you."

Alice nodded. "I was worried about you, too. Dr. Faust and Caterpillar told me where you'd ended up-"

"Dr. Who?"

"Oh I'm sorry. You know him as the Creator."

"_You met the Creator_?"

"It's been a confusing past few hours..."

"But the CREATOR."

"I think I'm supposed to be the one who ends up killing March Hare."

This threw Hatter completely off his train of thought, and he looked at Alice. Her head was tilted away from him, but from what he could see of her face, she looked thoughtful and worried. "Why do you think that?"

"Just a feeling I have. I mean, why would he have come to me if he didn't expect me to be the one to fix things? And... I'm the one who caused all of it anyway..."

"Alice... You're being too hard on yourself..." He reached out to tilt her chin toward him, but she pulled away and closed her eyes.

"I brought nothing but trouble with me the first time I came. Now, look at everyone. The land is in shreds and a war is on the brink of tearing it apart further... And did you see all the bodies inside the Red Lands? Fuck..." she swore as she retched her body thinking about it. "I didn't think I'd ever see torture like that... And those people would be alive it weren't for me..."

"Alice..." He reached for her chin again, and this time she didn't pull away, letting him turn her head towards him and look her in the eyes. "I have lived a long time, and my life has been uneventful at best, nerve-wracking at worst. I have been sentence to death by the Queen and escaped, and sadly, that was some of the most fun I've had. I don't really want to talk about March Hare at a moment like this but if you must know even when I thought everything was fine between us I felt like something was off. But these past few days I have had to run for my life and sneak into strongholds and out of them again and I can safely say this is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me."

She laughed, coughing slightly in her sadness before she let herself actually laugh, keeping it quiet and short because of the late hour. He waited a moment before leaning close to her. "You're the most important thing that's ever happened to me."

Her eyes grew wide and shining, and she opened her mouth but found no words. He continued. "Ever since you left our time passing has been the same, and I have longed to see you. Had I been a braver man, a wiser man, a more confident man, I would have gotten up from my tea party and chased after you that day I saw you. I did not. I let you go because at that time you were a girl and I was a man, and I felt you would want little to do with me. But here you are again, sitting in front of me and looking so much more beautiful, no, irresistible, than you ever did, and I cannot resist you. In the Tweedle's Asylum I thought you gone. I won't let you go again no matter how annoyed you get with me.

"Alice, I love you. I can't help but love you. You are the the only thing I have ever seen that I feel is alive in this place, and I want to be near you. You can say it's impossible, you can say I don't know what I'm talking about, but I don't care. I do and I will continue doing it, and more to the point, I will continue doing everything I can to pull you to me."

He stood, but bend his waist so that he was still level with her, and then grabbed her, encircling her with his arms, and in a quick motion that was possibly the most daring thing he had ever done, he flung them both to the bed. In the same quick motion he was laying next to her facing her, one arm under his head, the other around her waist. He could feel her breath on his face and he loved it.

"I know you must feel the same way... You've kissed me back every time I've ever kissed you..." His voice was soft. Her eyes were unreadable, but her mouth was half opened and her chest rising quickly with her breathing.

"Yes..." Alice was barely able to say. Her robe lay spilled about her, as did her hair, and his she noticed. She had never allowed herself this look before, of the way he looked laying on a bed, of the way his clothes clung to his body, or how long his lashes were...

"Tell me you love me." he begged.

"I love you." Alice answered, and the words toppled out of her with the barrier removed. "I missed you after I left, because you were something I could rely on to be yourself. If I knew nothing else in the world I knew that Hatter liked having tea parties and drinking his tea with friends. You were yourself, and apologized to no one for it. And then, when I saw you again, you had not changed. True, you looked different, and you wore your clothes with more flair, but you were still your unapologetic self, sitting in the club, drinking your tea, and doing what you felt like doing. What you felt like doing was being with me, and I love being with you. When I'm with you it feels like my heart is going to burn out of my chest, and that my whole body is yearning so much to be near you. But more to the point, when I'm with you, when I'm kissing you, when I'm looking at you, laughing with you, talking to you, or just knowing that you're close... I feel right. For the first time in my life, it feels like I'm right where I need to be."

He let the arm that had been under his head slide out and place his hand under her cheek. Then he brought her face to his and kissed her. It started slow, soft, and then exploring. She let her tongue collide with his, and then go down past it in order to caress his tongue, feeling a shiver down her spine as he invaded her mouth. The kiss deepened, and she felt that familiar hot feeling in her stomach, allowing her spare hand to do what it wanted to do as she felt his hand slip under the thin see through cloth of her robe and make contact with the silk on her back. She melted into the touch, and let her hand run up and down the curve his waist made when it flowed into his hips. She wondered vaguely if anyone else could ever have so perfect a curve as the one she was now feeling through cloth, and then felt skin as her hand had accidentally lifted the fabric of his shirt and made contact with his body. He stopped kissing her suddenly.

"Alice, I have got to warn you of something."

"What is it Hatter?" her body was growling at her for having stopped, but she silenced it with a stern inner word.

"I... this touch on me..."

"Is it reminding you too much of the... incident?"

"No! No nothing like that, nothing bad... It's... You need to realize what you're doing to me..." He pressed her close, and Alice felt something hard against her lower body, almost between her legs. She shivered as she realized what it was. HIs voice was soft. "I've felt the joy of your lips... so many times now... I don't want to stop this time... But I know you're a virgin."

"How did you...?"

"Alice you're not from here." he said with a slight smile. "And Rabbit has told me what he first saw you wearing in the other world. You couldn't have been more tightly wrapped if they had you in a straight jacket. I'm guessing your life style wasn't much different."

She looked down. He brought her face back up with his hand. "I'm not mad. Far from it. I just want to know you're not... That you're not being forced...:"

She grabbed his hand and kissed the fingertips. "You can never force me..."

He closed his eyes and smiled, his breath becoming deep as she continued to kiss his fingers and hand. He pulled his hand away to kiss her mouth, and then sat up. He began to unbutton his shirt. "Alice?"

She didn't take her eyes from what his hands were doing. "Yes?"

"I've been with... many people... But I've never done what I'm about to do now." All the buttons were unbuttoned, and he was slowly slipping it off his shoulders.

"What's that, Hatter?" her voice was barely over a whisper.

"Show my whole body to them." He slipped off his shirt, and let it fall to the floor behind the bed. His chest and arms were muscular, not as much as an Ace, but toned. His skin looked soft and smooth, not as pale as hers, but it looked nice with his dark hair. Free of the restrain of his hat and shirt, his hair spilled over his shoulders and into his face. He shook it out, and sat up fully on his knees so that he could look at her, and she at him. In the moonlight, even with the scars from battle on his shoulders and chest, his skin looked as though it were actually porcelain. She had to remind herself that if she touched it it would be soft and yielding, as opposed to hard and cold as porcelain would be.

She lost track of thinking when he began to fall down to be leaning over her. His mouth once again made contact with her lips, and she closed her eyes and melted. She would have melted fully, except the heat in her blood and skin was growing. The feeling made her kiss back with a new-found life and yearning for him, and she felt something soft against her. She realized with a muffled moan that it was his skin, because she was wrapped her arms around him, and running her hands down his sides.

He moaned softly, a high pitched sound that was muffled by her lips. He moved from her mouth to her neck, and then his hands found the straps and sleeves. He pulled back to look in her eyes for permission. The glazed, happy look was all he needed. He slipped then down her shoulders, and as he kissed the newly exposed skin, she pulled them off her arms, carefully because he was over her. He kissed further and further along, from her shoulders to her neck, and from her neck down to her collarbone. As he kissed her, he kept one hand on the bed to hold himself up, and the other traced along her curves. He used his lips and tongue as his hands on her shoulders and chest, pushing back the thin clothes with flickers and kisses. He didn't want to go any lower just yet though, not when she was enjoying it so much, or her skin was so sweet. Besides... he wanted to do something first...

Alice whimpered softly as Hatter sat up. She had been enjoying it so much, and now he had stopped. She opened her mouth to complain but he put a finger to it, softly shushing her, and then tracing along her lips with the same finger. He than slipped off the bed to stand next to her.

"I want to continue Alice... But I felt you should see all of me before I see all of you." To the opened-mouth look on her face, he gave a smile, and then let his hands undo the buckles that held his pants in place.

The first thing Alice saw was his underwear. They were sort of like shorts, only tight, and made of a fabric she had not seem shorts made of. They were a deep green color, and fit his body like a glove. Alice noticed a large bulge in the front and heard herself gasp. In the next moment he had removed even this article of clothing.

Amused and flattered by the look on her face, showing he has obviously made a good choice , he held his arms to the side. "Do you like what you see?" He turned slowly, giving her roaming eyes full access to the curves of his long legs, his hips winding around to form his toned ass, and his large erect cock between his legs. This Alice looked at with a wide, and unknown to her hungry, mouth. In the bright moonlight coming in she could tell quite clearly he kept himself shaved.

"You have a beautiful body." Her voice was low and husky, and in a far off part of her mind, she knew it wasn't her usual voice. She didn't care though... it felt so right...

He was looking at her in a way she had never seen before. He stepped back into the bed and pushed her flat on her back. Then he took a deep, long breathe, and kissed her. It was a fierce, deep kiss that Alice felt would surely end up with his tongue in her throat if he willed it. The he pulled away suddenly and began to slip off the dress.

Hatter closed his eyes as her breasts became into view, because he wanted to wait until it had been completely removed of her body before he looked at her. When he heard her legs hit the bed again from having lifted to allow him to remove the remnants of her robe and the silk gown beneath, he opened his eyes.

She was gorgeous. Her skin was pale all over, without even any freckles from her time in the sun. Her chest looked large on her slim frame, and rose and fell with each quick breath. A slim waist, made slimmer from years of being in corsets, gave way to wide hips and a flat, hollow point just above where her stomach was. Her legs were long and slim, and as he saw them for the first time he couldn't keep his hands off, caressing the smooth, soft skin with touches that clearly showed he liked what he saw. Soft, pink nipples topped each breast, and the way they stood out against the rest of her was like a target for his mouth to touch. He gave into this hint.

When his mouth hit her body, she moaned and arched er back. The feeling was intense, far more than anything she had ever felt before, and heightened even more by the caress on her skin moments before. She bit her lip, trying to keep the feeling from consuming her, but as Hatter's tongue flicked over her nipples, and began to suck, it became very futile.

As she clenched the sheets, she tilted her head up, moaning freely, to watch him. He caught her eye and she saw him pull his mouth away and very clearly run his tongue across her chest. Her eyes rolls back into her head and she fell flat onto the bed. Through the feeling of what she distancly realized was her first real orgasm, she felt him lick and kiss down her body. He got between her legs, and, her body helping slightly. slipped off her panties. He then spread her legs wide.

"Alice?"

"Yes Hatter?" she could barely speak.

"I love you."

"I lo-" but her words turned into a high pitched almost wail as his probing tongue instantly made contact with her clit. Her hands changed from the bed to wrap her fingers into his hair as he drove his mouth deeper between her legs and lips. She was beyond herself now. There was no more thought at all of trying to keep herself under control of the feeling she now fully recognized as pleasure and passion. She was that feeling. After barely a minute of Hatter's tongue lapping at her body, she felt another orgasm rip through her. This was intense and sharp, as sharp as the stab of need every time Hatter sucked her clit into his mouth. Her body arched and then hit the bed with a soft bounce, her hands now free of his hair.

He sat up and began to stroke himself with one hand and gently insert two fingers into her with the other. The feeling was wonderful, but even when the fingers went deep in her body and she felt them rub up against something electric, it wasn't what the need was calling for. In this slight break, she felt her mind partly come back to her and, along with feeling an incredibly need for his cock to be inside her, she was able to be curious.

"What are.... you... doing?" the word came out in between the gasps and soft moans from his hand hitting the pleasurable spot inside her.

"I'm getting you ready. Later, we won't have to do this, but this first time, I don't want to hurt you."

"I don't care if you hurt me." she said, her voice half begging. "Just... Please, I need you..."

That seemed to be too much for him. With his eyes now glazed over he positioned himself between her legs and spread them so her legs were around him while his was leaning forward. Then he thrusted.

Something broke inside Alice, making her first feel very weak and then feel very happy. Then he pulled out slight and thrusted in her again, deeper, and Alice felt a slight pain. He did it once more, and her legs locked around him. She felt incredible.

Her body was already on fire from the oral sex he had given her, a memory she was reminded of she she tasted a sweet sort of musky juice on his tongue when they kissed, and after about 10 thrusts she was over the edge. The sounds that came from her mouth were not English, or indeed any other language; they were cryptic sounds that were meant to beg him to go on, tell him he was huge, tell him she needed this and that gods it felt incredible. She reached up to run her nails down his back, hoping she left marks in his skint o remind him of her the next day, and then pulled his hair slightly to get him to raise his neck, which she then began to suck.

He was in heaven. Never had he felt anything like the wonderful feeling of Alic's body around him. She was almost too tight, almost chocking his cock as it thrusted her. He loved looking down and see that beautiful, sweaty figure a girl, her hair spread about her on the bed, begging for him. He, in turn, was trying to hold in his moans, trying to hold out as long as possible, but with every sound that escaped his lips it was obvious he was in the same place of no return she was.

As she kissed his neck, he rolled and flipped them, being careful not to pull out and distantly thanking the bed was huge

"Sit up. Trust me."

She lifted her head, kissed him deep, and then sat up. He grabbed her waist.

"Just let me do the work if you're unsure..." and then he began to bounce her on top of him. The first, impossible feeling was that her body was being ripped down the middle by the force of his cock being driven balls deep into her hips over and over again, and she reached out for something, but found the only thing to be able to grab was the blankets. She she gripped tightly.

"It's too big! It's going... ahh.... It's so big I can't take it..."

He slowed down slightly, but she was showing no true signs of stopping him, so he kept going. In a few moments she had overcome herself and was helping him to bounce her with pushes from her legs. Her hair splashed over her shoulder, chest, and back, and through the long strands of pale gold, he saw her amazing breasts bounce with them. He stopped for just a moment, sat up carefully, hooked her legs around his back, and then kept thrusting, sucking her tits as he did.

She pressed her body into him and clenched her muscles, loving the white hot feeling of Hatter deep inside her. Their mouths connected, and she tasted the sweet, sort of musty juice that she knew had come from her sex and felt her body convulse. This one was even more immense than the last, and she kept her body rocking as it occurred, letting deep inside of her the head of his dick hit against her inner walls again and again with each wave of heat.

Less than a second had passed form the end of her orgasm from to the time when Hatter again fell to the mattress and rolled her again. This time, though, he lifted her legs over his shoulders. With a moment's look at the wide eyes in Alice's face that showed she knew what this was going to feel like, he pounded her.

Her voice screamed, and then went gutturally low, and then back up to high and every note in between. His thrusts were coming hard anf ast, and combined with the oral in the beginning and the depth of how far he had been when she was on top she was very sensitive. This, though, was different. This was a sort of depth that was hitting every pleasure spot she had in her body somehow, with his cock deep inside her, his mouth moaning her name, and one hand on her breast while the other played with her clit. She couldn't move, only lay there. She couldn't think. She could only feel the amazing feeling that was beyond words that filled her body and threatened to expel out of her eyes with how full of it they were.

Hatter moved his hands form Alice's body to place his hands on either side of her shoulders, he let himself fully go and thrust her uncontrollably. He heard her beautiful voice then start moaning so loud he thought it would break the glass in the windows. He felt her body convulse over and over, this this was making his body desperately want to convulse. He grabbed her hips, and after a few more thrusts into the white heat of her body, he came.

Alice felt his body tighten and his cock get very huge for a few moments and then she felt hot bursts of what she knew to be his cum deep inside her. Each thrust of cum hit directly into her sensitive inner wall, and she came. In the feeling of cumming her hands reached up and grabbed his shoulders, putting marks in them, but she didn't care. Her body gripped his own pulsing one, and wave after wave of white hot pleasure surged through her. Then she felt him fall on top of her, and as the now satisfied fire ebbed slowly form her senses, she became more and more aware of his smooth skin resting on her chest. She was also aware of the fact that she could breath again, and did so, reaching a shaky hand up to caress his face.

He smiled into her shoulder, and as they both groaned, slowly slipped out of her and then collapsed next to her. Carefully he turned his head and blow the hair out of his face. His eyes were shining. So were hers.

He grabbed her hand and kissed it. "I love you."

She smiled slowly. "I love you, too."

He leaned up slightly, and tried to catch his breath. She tried to move toward him and found she couldn't. She laughed softly. "I can't move."

"You don't need to." He grinned and scooted over to her and kissed her gently. He tahn began to stroke her hair, looking thoughtful.

"I'll try to not let this change things between us."

She laughed aloud then. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, we do have to go outside this room eventually, and when we do, we'll have more suis of cards to deal with,"

"Oh yeah..." she sighed, then shrugged. "Well, who cares? We've got each other, right?"

"Right." he puts his arms around her and pulled her close to him. "You can't get rid of me now."

There were no more words exchanged, they were both too tired. Confident in themselves and how happy the other was, they both fell asleep sprawled out on top of the sheets, with only the moon and a few birds witness to their calm.


	12. march hare's memories

guys I am so sorry I still haven't been able to get my contacts back. hopefully I can push past it and continue writing. also, this chapter marks the end of part 1 and the beginning of part 2 of my book. From here on it, it gets more serious. fair warning, toward the end this chapter contains a hardcore rape sequence between March Hare and Hatter.

Anyway, hope I can see everyone back in part 2! Enjoy!

Madness Most Royal, Part 2

The warm water fell over March Hare's smooth dark fur, black because of the wet liquid pouring over him. The thick, sleek fur covered most of his body except for parts of his face, his chest, upper inner legs, and groin. What had once been mattered and rank was now smooth and slick, a product of the fact that, like everyone else in Wonderland, he had grown younger.

"Perhaps not entirely useless..." came the musing of March, not bothering to keep his voice down in his own private bathroom, located deep within his fortress in the Land of Fire and Brimstone. Outside the walls, indeed, outside the very door, monsters and phantoms of all shapes, sizes, and levels of sanity patrolled. A mouse couldn't sneeze and someone in his kingdom would know and tell him about it if they thought it would please him.

"Idiotic fools... Thinking to curb my favor by telling me meaningless drivel... Still... some things are interesting..." He thought of a few hours previously, when one of his new recruits, a Phantasmagora who until recently had been patrolling the birds and being fruitless for it (he had been about to dismiss him into a pit of lava) told him that the birds had let him on a big secret. Alice was back in Wonderland, and was currently in bed with no less than the Hatter. That silly little creature, perhaps a tool, perhaps a weapon, was right now in the Court of Clubs and was trying to rally something against him.

"Fools... All of them." His deep voice sighed, and he let his mind turn to other things. He had never been one to relax. Even as a boy, growing up with his father, the previous March Hare who's name was Milton, he had always thought there was something expected of him he was not living up to. He wanted to play,t o make his games and to stare at the sky, watch the clouds go by and try and make pictures of him. His father had other plans.

"Not mad enough." Milton would say, before he had handed over the March Hare title onto his son's shoulders. "You have to be truly insane to be a March Hare." he would chirp before pouring tea down the sleeve of his jacked and then having it fall into an empty glass via his ear. All March Hare's life, from the day he had first learned to walk to the first time he had drunk tea, his father had always been there, or his mother, or the rest of the Court, putting a weight on his shoulders for him to be something he did not want to be.

The day the Creator left...he felt it. A certain sense of dread through the land that faded in a few days but always seemed to linger to him. He felt as though he were walking through a fog, a fog of words, of crushed hopes, of lost paths and he didn't know which way was the right way to go. He was only 10.

Perhaps that's what first lead him to the Mad Hatter's door. The man was insane, perfectly so, a model example by what his father was always going on about. It was Mad Hatter who gave him his first polka-dotted bow tie, Mad Hatter who had helped him forget his name and pick up the mantle of the March Hare, Mad Hatter who had given him a place to stay other than his home.

After a while, it only seemed natural to have sex with the person who had always been there for him. It seemed that they were supposed to grow old together anyway, because with the Creator gone, they were aging viably, something that, one day, the Queen of Hearts took care of.

March Hare would never know why, or how, but when the Hatter had sung at her court that day, it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard, but for some reason or another the Queen was furious with it. She insisted it was horrible, awful, terrible, a sound so sinister he had murdered time. Then she, herself, had time beheaded. A dangerous, awful, deceitful task that had March Hare been asked about before hand he would have said impossible! Even in Wonderland it cannot be done! but there it was. And time stood still. After a few days of disbelief, then of denial, he felt it creeping up on him form the depths of the land. Madness. This one stroke had caused so much of the famed Creator's work to become undone, and while a select few were out of the poison of such things as murder and hatred, those who had allowed themselves to fall so far made up for the rest. one of March Hare's friends, Centipede, became so crazed he stole deep into the Bottomless Valley and built a Fortress of Doors, seemingly out of nothing at all. In the middle of this place he built a "skool" for the insane children growing up in a world ruled by madness. This place quickly fell to disuse, only guarded lightly by a few card guards and a handful of students remaining. The centipede himself stole deep into the Wonderland Woods, under ground in the South, and began experimenting. Years later, March Hare would hear snips of whispers, of flowers that could kill, mushrooms that would imprison you, buildings that were alive, and of creatures fierce and terrible, and wonder how much of this was Wonderland changing, and how much was the Centipede's twisted mind.

Wonderland WAS changing, but to March Hare, who was starting to come to terms with himself and who he was supposed to be in his father's eyes, a beautiful place. his father had grown deceptively sane, and March Hare had stopped talking to him. He now hated his father for forcing his son to be crazy while he himself saw logic and hid himself away deep where the "taint", as he called it, couldn't get to him. March Hare could care less. He saw no taint. True, there were a flurry of creatures who were... less than safe, but this was the smallest minority. What he saw was the lakes and trees coming to life, the furniture being able to give you a massage as you sat in it, your house alarm making your house rise up and defend itself. He saw the plants and flowers grow faces and sing, he saw the butterflies rest and form slices of bread, birds flying about and resting in cage-shaped other birds to sleep. He loved watching the paths change places, the card guards grow to look more like the cards he thought they were supposed to, and listen to what the streams had to say. He was beginning to notice even the gibbering madness of the shadowy things that floated in the darkness areas made sense to him, and seemed to speak in a wisdom and knowledge that the orbiting cosmos seemed to whisper.

He laughed more. His eyes went form the standard black for a rabbit to an icy, bright blue. his legs grew more and somehow less rabbit-like. His hair became matted, darker, and showed the marks of him traveling through the underbrush and his lack of hygiene. He was spending more and more time at the tea party table with the Mad Hatter, and somehow, he was enjoying himself. The ramblings of the insane mind sounded more and more like hidden genius, and he was feeling it. Even as he sipped from empty cups and made cakes explode against walls and chairs, he felt as though this were all some secret way of showing how genuine his intentions were. It was March, and he was truly mad now.

Somewhere in all this, he found himself close to Hatter at first it seemed simple, 2 gentlemen sharing lunch and life with each other. Then one day, a kiss. March Hare wasn't sure who started it, or why, but one moment they had been buttering bread and purring lemon into watches, and then his tongue was just in Hatter's mouth. He stopped it, but Hatter wanted more. He often asked for it, the touch. March Hare felt pleased. It seemed that someone in his life wanted him around, unlike his spiteful father. True, he felt little to nothing romantic for his friend, but when your cock is buried hilt deep in someone's ass, does it matter what you feel? He had what he wanted, a home food, clothing, someone to stay with, and something to do. His eyes had grown wild, and he had grown wild. He had never felt more at home in madness than he did then.

Then it happened, a visitor. A small blond girl wandered into their garden in the midst of another endless tea party. March Hare had no idea when he had actually started eating the bread and drinking the tea, after all time HAD stopped, but then, here was this thing. A change in his daily routine. He probed her as best his floundering mind could do. What was this, this thing here? Was it a flower that had grown long stems and decided to take a walk? Was it a fairy come from the forest, grown and taken a new shape? A girl, you say? What kind of girl? Can I eat you?

Hatter seemed mystified. He grew louder and somehow quiet after she left in her hussy way. He, himself, quickly forgot about the ringlet-ted thing, but Hatter didn't. What was this, this utter nonsense beyond anything the world had thrown at him yet? Was this little creature secretly taking Hatter away from him? No, Hatter was his friend. The wilderness had decided that. There was no need to worry about such things. Besides, March Hare though with a smile on his face as Hatter begged from the corner of his breaking-glass green eyes, he wants me. He needs what I have.

That very day they got the news the Queen had disappeared.

At first, nothing changed between them. But then, as March Hare began to realize time going backwards, he began to take account of himself. Here he was, living in a house in the middle of no where, when a seat of Power was opened. Now, in a case of such things what is one supposed to do about this? Is one supposed to sit idly by, or does one take all he can from such things? He wondered why he hadn't thought of this before. He hated the way Wonderland was, he hated the way it was ruled and the madness that had come of it. He began to remember living peacefully, watching the flowers and running through the meadows. He brought this up with Hatter, who was growing younger and more feminine/masculine every day. Hatter tried to de-sway him. He said it was not the natural order. Five years this went on, with March Hare hearing daily of how things were beginning to crumble to the West, and how the Spades were having trouble trying to fill the outstanding orders for execution, and how the Diamonds had decided to frit away their time with nothing useful to do. He thought of a new plan every day, or a chance to take his claim, or a way to show everyone, including his insufferable family, that he was destined for greater things than pouring tea into one's lap. And yet, at every turn, there was Hatter, who tried to tell him it was not the way things should be.

Hatter. Stupid Hatter, no longer as Mad as before, who's soft pale body sickened him every time he saw it. Hatter, who's eyes were now more brilliant green than ever. He wanted to pluck those eyes out. Hatter, who said he loved him and called him beautiful, who loved the feel of his now sleek fur and muscular chest. He wanted to tear Hatter off him and teach him who was supposed to be Master. One day he did.

It had been a usual day of drinking tea and eating cake, only now, March Hare saw nothing in it. Gone were the days of listening to the gibbering orbs in the south, or laughing at whatever joke Hatter had to say. He sat quietly, not even trying to drink the tea, and ignoring the laughter coming from Hatter's side of the table. He was looking at his cup. It was empty. It had always been empty. Why hadn't he noticed that before? He looked around. Most of the food on the table was molding, and yet it still sat there, not being thrown away. He looked at Hatter, who had his usual unsold hat upon his head, topped with that ridiculous price tag. What point was there to be had in this?

"Why aren't you drinking your tea, March?" Hatter asked, slurring his words. He was drunk on something. March Hare didn't care what.

"It's empty." he replied dully, suddenly angry.

"Well, we'll fill it up, shall we?" Hatter replied grinning, and grabbed a tea pot. He poured it. Nothing came out.

"It's still empty you stupid freak!" He pulled himself up from the table with sudden force, nearly knocking the whole thing over. Hatter shrunk back. He's terrified, thought Hare. Good.

"March... Calm down... You're acting crazy..."

"Crazy? CRAZY? I'M ACTING CRAZY?" March Hare screamed. The birds of the area around them flew off in fear. They were alone now. "You're the one who's sitting here in this rubbish... drinking this non-existent tea... and thinking about that little blond whelp, aren't you?

"Alice?" Hatter replied shocked. "We haven't seen her in 5 years March, why would I be thinking about her?"

"You're right, we haven't seen her in 5 years. I envy her. I wish I hadn't seen you in 5 years as well." Everything was suddenly bubbling up from where he'd been hiding it. He had never felt so good and so dangerous.

"March, what's gotten into you? Why are you acting like this?"

"Because I want to, and stop calling me March, that is NOT my name. I don't have one. My Father putting this stupid title on me saw to that."

"Listen, maybe we can talk about this, just, calm down, go inside, go upstairs and -"

"Yeah you'd like to do that, wouldn't you?" he knocked Hatter's hat off and grabbed him by his hair, which was long, down to his waist. "Look at you. Walking around here like a little slut. You love when I fuck you, don't you? That's all you think about, sex and drinking tea. You're nothing but a worthless fool, while I'm trying to do something with myself. I'm trying to show this world all it can be! And you are always there, aren't you?" He was fueled on by the growing terror in Hatter's eyes, "Just trying to tell me 'it's not the right way' and such, where every night all you can do is beg to have my dick in your ass. Well, you want my dick there? Fine. I'll give it to you."

He threw hatter onto the table, a force so hard Hare could feel the slap of Hatter's body and hear the cry of pain as the wind was knocked from his lungs. He bend over him, and began to rip his clothes. Hatter started screaming.

"March don't! March stop you're hurting me!"

Hare began to hit him over the face as best he could from behind him, which made Hatter stop screaming words but didn't stop the cries of pain and terror as he heard the sound of cloth rip. After the last article of clothing was gone there he was, bent over the table. His skin was already red from the force. It made March Hare hard. He wondered why he hadn't thought of this before.

"March please don't stop..."

"Shut your fucking mouth." He didn't yell, his voice was low and deadly. Hatter stopped talking then. He barely even screamed when March Hare poured hot tea over his body, especially on his asshole. He only let out a slight whimper when he felt March Hare's dick against his unprotected body. But when March Hare threw his entire force into the first horrible penetration, Hatter screamed. It was nothing like March Hare had heard or felt before. The scream shook through Hatter's body and March Hare felt it in his own. It ripped through the air the way Hare could tell he was ripping through Hatter. He kept going. Ht was easier now, Hatter was bleeding slightly and that made for better lubrication. He grabbed Hatter's hips and squeezed them until he knew any harder and bones would break.

Hatter had calmed down some, his screams weren't that loud. Hare wondered if Hatter was beginning to enjoy himself. He wouldn't stand for that.

He grabbed a knife from the table near-by to where they were. He then moved his hands from the bent man's hips and put one on the back of his head. With the other he grabbed Hatter's hair and bit it, keeping it nice and straight. Then he started cutting. When Hatter realized what was going on he started trembling and screaming. Hare stopped cutting and put the knife to Hatter's throat. Hatter's screamed silenced instantly he began to fuck Hatter harder, cutting as hie did, until all his Hatter's hair was almost gone. He then put it on the table so Hatter could see it and went back to his hands being on his victim's waist. He was getting close. he had to admit, Hatter's ass felt good today. But it wasn't enough. He wanted to feel Hatter squirming in fear and punishment again. He deiced to get some things off his chest.

"You know, Hatter, I've never loved you. I just fucked you because it was all I had to do with my time. You know why I never look at you during sex? It's because I was pretending it was someone else. It was the only way I could enjoy myself." He heard Hatter crying. It was almost enough to make him nut. Better say one last thing... "Oh don't worry though, you're almost good enough to make me cum today. I guess I should just tell all of your partners to rape you... Not that you'll ever have any partners, you're too hideous for that..."

Hatter's cries turned to sobs and Hare was able to cum, filling his ass with the white, sticky substance until it was leaking out the side a bit. Hare can still remember the way Hatter looked when he slid off the table and he had thrown Hatter's hair into the previous owner's face. It was enough to make a demon cry. Luckily, March Hare wasn't a demon.

Hare turned off the shower and grabbed a towel. It was almost time to alert the troops of the latest news, and he didn't want to be late to his own meeting. Before then, though, he wanted to have some time to himself.

March Hare pulled out a list from an opening to no where and looked at it. On it were the names of people to be taken care of. With a slight smile, he moved Hatter's name from the top and put it toward the bottom, and moved the name Jack of Hearts to the top. Sometimes, he thought to himself as he returned the list and moved to where his clothes were, there are things even more important than personal affairs to get revenge on.


	13. speaking out

Aurthur's note: I'm getting better at seeing without glasses or contacts, so hopefully I'll be able to update on time again. Thanks for sticking with me.

Also I do take questions, so if you have any, do what others have done and PM me. I'd be glad to share. I'll answer F.A.Q. after the story's over. Thanks and enjoy.

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It seemed like they were in the ceremony for hours. Lots of pointless talks from people of state, high cards Alice didn't know, animals and creatures from all around the area. Alice even saw at one point a strange being seeming to be made of nothing but mouths and eyes float in. At first Alice thought it was only talking nonsense, until it began to speak in an oddly deep voice. Alice heard the sounds the spheres made in its voice, and she wondered how many people had lost their minds trying to discern the truth from the madness it spoke. It seemed the King knew which was which, because after it left the room and Alice no longer felt like if she stood she would fall over, he seemed thoughtful. The only thing that kept her from going mad herself was Hatter holding her hand. They had woken up together, and since then, little had kept them apart for long.

Alice looked over at Hatter, who was probably thinking the same thing she was. Work first, pleasure later. From the way the meeting was going, they were going to have to prove themselves envoys, and also, going to have to leave again soon. Alice knew not for where, she only felt it was the path she should be on.

The meetings were disrupted suddenly by the call for lunch, and the whole assembly moved to the dining halls. There Hatter and Alice were across from eahc other, and next to them on either side were lizard folk. From the most Alice could tell, these were female.

"...strange sort of nonsense, isn't it?" said one of the ladies, who's frilly green outfit seemed to melt into her skin.

"Well, you heard what the gibbering orb said." said the other, a fatter sort of lizard, that Alice could tell was a female (or at least cross-dresser) because it was wearing a pink poof dress.

"But could it be true?" came the blue clothed one with an awful wig on the other side of an uncomfortable-looking Hatter. " The Child has returned?"

"She might not be a child you know." said the green wearer, waving a fork full of food across the table at the blue while Alice tried to not choke on her wine. They were talking about her, she knew.

"Push posh." said the last, a throaty sort of sound coming from her body which looked squeezed into the dress. Her whole body seemed to slur as she spoke, which possibly had to do with the half drunk wine bottle in her hand closest to Alice. "We've all grown younger and... so beautiful." the bottle almost hit Alice in the head. "Surely she can't have grown any younger. And becoming older simply wouldn't make sense."

"She is not of this world, Amathea." insisted the green, while blue and pink nodded insistently. "Who knows what could have become of that little blond creature?"

Alice was at this point ready to sink under the table and cover her hair with about 50 napkins when she heard the sound of a great staff hitting the ground over and over again. She looked up, as did everyone else did, and saw it was the King, holding his sword by the blade end in a armored hand and banging the ground with the hilt. Everyone fell silent. The King rose from his seat, and while the Ace, the Jack, the Queen and the entirety of the court and guests looked on, began to stroll. He paced for only a few moments, his hand on his chin, before he turned to the congregation before him.

"Would the female envy who came here last night please come up to the dais?"

Alice felt the entire room look around and then turn to look at her as she rose, too shocked to move, to scared not to, from her seat. For a brief moment she noticed from the corner of her eyes Hatter grow pale and the lizards around her gape with open mouths before she started walking. She had never realized how big the dining hall was before now, as she walked this seemingly endless way to the King. As she ultimately grew closer, the light coming from the ceiling up high set his armor ablaze with lighted reflection. To her he looked like a God, ready to strike down or bring life into corpses at the slightest whim.

As she finally reached the platform she bowed low, sweeping her skirts out wide. He bade her rise, and then paced slowly back over to his throne and took a seat. The hall sounded like a tomb.

"As all of you in this castle fortress know, I had many visitors today." Began the King quietly. Though he kept his head down, and his hand slightly over his mouth, no one had to strain to hear him speak. "I was informed of... many things in my lands I admit I did not know. The Jack" he motioned blithely over to the Jack of Clubs, who was leaning on his spear. "knew some of them, and neglected to tell me out of the fact that these accusations were, by all accounts, mad. Mad as the maddest thing the Queen had ever done." Here he looked up, and scanned the room slowly. His eyes landed on Hatter, who felt instantly cold and clammy. "Tell us, Jack, what you have learned."

The jack stepped forward, his body a slow and slender snake of gray. It was now that Alice realized that he was a Spymaster, putting Phantasmagorias to shame, because he could read people and thoughts as well as he could see things unseen by most eyes.

"I have learned, though listening and watching, of the identities of our envoys. The furry white rabbit is indeed White Rabbit, previous envoy to the Queen of Hearts." the crowd had begun to murmur "The man with then is Hatter, sworn enemy to our loyal ally, March Hare. And the girl..." the crowd was murmuring quite steadily now "Is Alice."

Suddenly everyone stopped talking. In the far back, she heard the sound of chairs squealing as people craned their necks to get a better look at her. She had never felt so on display before, but she knew she could not hide. She King rose to his feet, looked at her, and then snapped his fingers. Instantly the Ace was behind her, holding her tightly in his arms. There was a sudden loud commotion and the sound of screams in protest and then Hatter and Rabbit were brought to the front, a guard holding each of their arms. The King turned from them.

"Kill them."

The crowed began to protest, but a look from the king silenced them. A two walked forward, unsheathing a sword as he did. Alice noticed he was the dark haired one from earlier. She caught his eyes, and they looked sad, but determined. He looked back to his King

"Must we do this? Perhaps there could be an agreement reached..."

"There will be no agreement, Two!" the King shouted, his voice sounding final. "You know what Hare said to do if we ever came across Hatter, Rabbit, and this girl. I am not about to let the ruling of Wonderland slip from my fingers."

"Perhaps he has changed his mind..."

"Changed his mind? March Hare?" Two, shut up and do as your commanded before I have you killed as well."

Two looked back at Alice, his dark hair falling from his eyes. He mouthed an apology. He raised his arm. She closed her eyes, ready to feel the sword...

"Surly the King of Clubs is not about to make the biggest folly of his life?" The voice echoed in a room that was filled with sound, and everyone grew quiet, looking for the source of the voice. Alice, took, looked as best she could. Her eyes found it before anyone else's did, but then, she knew what to look for.

"Doesn't he realize what he holds in his hands? Doesn't he realize what killing her, nay, all of them would do to this world?" A small purple feline, the Cheshire Cat, was sitting on a pillar. True, he was technically sitting upside down for the way gravity pulls, but his head, at least, was faceing them. "And will not give the witness a chance to defend herself? Even the Queen of Hearts did that."

"Silence infernal cat!" the King shouted, but the crowd had already started to revolt, fueled by Two's words and their own ideas.

"If they are spies as you say, why have we not been overrun yet?" came the cry from one part of the audience.

"Perhaps the Cheshire Cat knows something even the Jack doesn't know. Cat can go unseen into places Jack cannot." reasoned an old rabbit from the front of the room close to the king.

"Even the monstrous Queen gave a trail, even if it wasn't exactly fair. Let them defend themselves, then we will decide innocence."

"FINE!" roared the king. "But don't complain when we are all DEAD due to your folly." He motioned again, and the Ace let Alice go.

"What of my friends?" she asked his majesty.

"You will speak for all of them, since you are obviously in this together. If you fail you all die. End of story, and end of my patience."

Alice didn't protest. She didn't do anything. She just stood there, in front of the whole of Wonderland, it seemed to her. It had been 10 years since the last time she had to go on trial, and yet, she didn't feel any older all of a sudden. What had she had for life experience? Growing up in a cold, miserable, lifeless town? Nothing prepared her for this. And yet...

She looked up at the Cheshire Cat, smiling his best, most hopeful smile, for her. She looked at the cold, fearful faces of her comrades. Then at the King and his court, and began speaking.

"The March Hare is no ally to you."

Everyone began talking at once. There were sounds of protests, sounds of anger and yelling, and a few people who were covering their ears in order to allow themselves better thinking. Alice looked at the King, who's knuckles were white as he gripped the arm of his throne. He looked furious. Somehow, she did not feel fear.

"You have asked me to speak today so let me speak!" she cried out. Slowly, but entirely, the crowd quieted, and she began again.

"Friends, and I call you friends for we are all in the same boat here, I beg you, listen to me. What want have I to end your lives? How would it profit me? It would not. And more to the point, what way have I to do it? Obviously I have no vast armies, or legions of spies, or else I would have made my coming much more pronounced. All I have is my two companions and the Creator's blessing."

"The Creator?" murmurings and whispers of the Creator were peppered about the crowd. As Alice began to speak again, however, everyone fell silent.

"Long ago the Creator made this world so that the Court of Hearts would rule the kingdom. Now March Hare, power-drunk, wishes to take what he feels should be his. He is wrong. This is wrong. This is not how it was meant to be. Surely, you realize this! March Hare and Hatter, turned against each other. The Pale Realm, fighting for blood. the Court of Diamonds torn to shreads, and you, plotting cival war in your own kingdom. _This is not how it was meant to be_. Do not fall into the same trap he did! I know you don't want to rip your land apart with the same thing that would rip this very room apart."

"How can we know you are right?" the King asked, his voice grim. "How can we know you aren't lying?"

"I wasn't lying about the Chess Board rising up against you." Alice threw back at him, stepping forward boldly. "That was all true. And that's exactly what would happen to you. The March Hare wants to rule alone. Once he has the throne, you would all be dead, and so would this realm. Do you dare risk that? That kind of obvious danger?"

"What do you know of this, Outsider?" came the King's reply. "What can you say of facing danger?"

"She freed the Carpenter and the Walrus from the Tweedles grasp." same the soft meows from the Cheshire Cat high above.

"Preposterous!" laughed the king. "The Tweedles work for the March Hare."

"And they've been slowly picking off those who don't all this time." Rabbit said, his voice calm and brave despite a sword pressed at his throat. "Open your eyes, King! Time has begun to go backwards again. Surely this would not except for something momentous to occur."

"Momentous, yes, for a coward like yourself to speak out in a place like this in a way like this." the King said as he moved to be next to Rabbit and Hatter. "And tell me, why do you risk your neck in a place such as this for a girl such as this?"

"Because he knows it's the right thing to do." Hatter said, his voice low.

"Oh, so the sod has spoken!" the king stepped forward, leaning close to Hatter. "I have heard of you, Hatter. You threw yourself into a bottle over what March Hare did. And from what I hear, you deserved it."

Alice was shocked at this shot that was far below the belt to her, but Hatter didn't even flinch. Instead he gritted his teeth and continued, not batting an eye. "I have been inside the Tweedle's Asylum, which was once home to Old Father Time himself. It now crawls with decay and rot, and things too horrible to mention go on behind chained iron doors. I have escaped with my life, by help of the lantern spider Marjoram, and have come here to try and warn you against the foul play that goes on within your walls."

The King of Clubs looked shocked, and stood. He walked to Alice. She met his eyes, and saw in them a kind of respect growing. He looked into hers, and saw that they were tired, worn, and full of trouble and terror from what had transpired to her. He saw that she was honest, that her friends were honest, and knew what he needed to do.

He turned back to White Rabbit and Hatter. "Release them." Swords were sheathed, and Hatter came running to Alice, who leaned into his chest and held him tight. Then she felt fur against her face and laughed as Rabbit too joined in the hug. As they laughed Cheshire Cat walked down the ceiling from invisible steps, put his head on correctly, and with his tail held like a banner, stood on air to be at eye height with the Royal of Clubs,

"What are you going to do with them?" he asked.

"Give them lots of food, drink, supplies, clothes, and ask for their help." Alice looked up at this, and saw the King looking at her very oddly. He had his hands behind his back, and his long hair was spilling down his shoulders. He looked almost human and not king,

"Alice, Hatter... Rabbit. You are indeed three brave souls. Perhaps you are sent by the Creator. I ask, no, I beg you... do something for me."

"Anything, sire."

"In my Court are the cards if Diamonds. I need you to go to the Court of Diamonds and speak with them. Too long have they sat around, ignoring their duties, just as we have tried to pull double ours. If Wonderland is going to get back into a standard way of things, it must be re-ordered."

"Sire?" she asked, her voice a question. He smiled, knowing what she wanted to know.

"Yes, I remember him. And I remember the days when this land was a place of gentle order, where a man lived by his word, where creatures lived and laughed, and the gibbering beats did not gibber, but offered knowledge to those who wanted it. The fact that they can do that even half the time now...

"But still." he sighed, and motioned with his hands. Fresh clothes and supplies were brought forth, along with a crest in the shape of a club. "Take this with you when you go to the Court of Diamonds. Then they will know who sends you... and why.

"I do warn you... the Diamonds have slipped far. Gone are the days when they threw lavish balls and taxes fairly the land. Now they spend all day either holding ridiculous plays and parties or counting the land's money. It will be hard to get them back on their way. But I have full confidence in you, and I know you can do well."

"Thank you, Your Grace."They moved to bow.

"No, Alice... Friends... It is we who should be bowing to you."

Alice stood, unsure, amazed, as the King, the Queen, the Court, the whole congregation of people stood and bowed to her. The Chesire CAt stood nearby, smiling and floating in his way.

"I never asked for this." she whispered to him, watching the room on their knees before her.

"You didn't have to." he purred into her ear quietly. "It chose you."


	14. restoring right

sorry this took so long. Hopefully I'll be able to got my contacts back soon, but in the mean time, it's hard. I recently found a way to type though: make the font REALLY big when I'm writing it :D Anyway, if anyone else has any questions, feel free to post them!

hopefully 15 will be up soon. in the mean time, enjoy, and thanks for your loyalty!

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If Alice had been hoping to walk to the Court of Diamonds without being noticed, she had her hopes dashed quickly. In the forest, word was spreading of who was coming, what they were going to, and why. During the day a long line of cards walked through the forest, and at night, they slept standing up. No, that wasn't quite right. During the day it was a long procession of endless one-two-three-four and at night while the others were setting up camp the card guards were running this way and that way making sure everything was safe and everyone in the general area knew who they were. Eventually (and after yelling at them to shut up for a long time) White Rabbit managed to get the card guards in order, reminding them he had worked for the Queen and thus knew how to punish a card guard. After they had quieted down and lost some of their inept behavior they were actually very good to have around. They told stories and acted as scouts for going over terrain that wasn't covered enough to keep from showing who was walking where. At some point, Alice wasn't sure when, but she walked up to the Two who had tried to refuse to kill her from the time in the Court, and decided to strike up a conversation.

"So... Where exactly are we going?"

Two was, at the time, half into a piece of bread. He thought for a moment as he swallowed, and then answered, not taking his eyes from the horizon. "Well, the Court of Diamonds lies far from here, closer to the Court of Spades than to our court. What you may not know is just how close the Court of Spades would be to the Hearts' Court. Some of the hearts, from the back, become spades, which sounds impossible but it's quite plausible. The case of all this, of course, is because of who they represent."

"A long answer for my question, but the kind I like." grinned Alice, who was glad his way of speaking might keep ehr from asking too many questions. "And who do they represent?"

"Well. it's not really who so much as 'what', I guess I should say. You see, we, the Clubs, rather, were the royal army. The Diamonds, that's these folks behind me" he motioned " and the 4 royals to where we're going now, they're the treasurers. And the Spades," he motioned far, far up ahead, to a distant speck on the horizon beyond the speck they were coming up on, "they're the executioners. We'll have to go see them, too." he sighed.

"Why?" she asked, confused.

"Well," he said, rather thoughtfully, "they've been be heading every hour on the hour everyone the Queen wanted dead since you left, and they're only half done. If we can get those subjects free, we'll have an army big enough to take on March Hare."

"Won't they just want to go to whatever isn't going to be supporting the woman who tried to kill them all?"

"Ah, that's why we need to go there." he smiled "They need to see you, Alice. You're something we can rally behind. It's because of what you represent."

"What's that?"

"Change. For all of us. For a brighter day."

They were fast approaching the large structure covered in diamond shapes, and sky had begun to grow dark. Out of no where, Hatter appeared next to her on the other side, and put a strong arm around her shoulders. He caught eyes with Two, and they both nodded, grimly.

"What is it?" Alice questioned, suddenly feeling uneasy from the sky and the looks.

"The reason we need to come and set the Diamond's straight is because of what has become of them."

"And... what has become of them?" She looked toward White Rabbit as he walked up. His eyes were focused, and his almost human-jaw was set hard.

"Centipede."

The doors opened without any trouble, no one was guarding them. However, what lay on the other side both astounded and frightened Alice.

On every wall, on almost all of the floor, even on the pillars and ceiling overhead, there were plants. Some of them were beautiful, others looked... wrong, somehow. Alice couldn't place it, but somehow, the roses that grew in vines, the mushrooms that grew below, the simple ferns... some of them looked... sinister. But how could that be? She was suddenly reminded of the garden of live flowers she had once visited, and shivered uncomfortably. Why did he get the feeling that there would be more than talking happening here?

Worldessly one of the card guards, and Ten, motioned them forward. She tied her hair back with a ribbon from her uniform and stepped forward. Two looked back at Hatter who looked back at Alice. They all made the same motion and mouthed the same words, keep quiet!

Carefully they stepped though the corridors. The Ten who had taken the lead seemed to know exactly where they were going. Alice caught a look at her face as she glanced to the side to see that they were following close. It was full of something, a well-hidden fear. She knows this place, ALice thought. But this, all these plants here... She knows this isn't right. This is not how it is supposed to be.

She suddenly got a deep harsh feeling in her chest, below where the embalm of the Clubs hang. It was the same sort of feeling she had gotten when she had found out what Hare had done to Hatter. It was sense of dread, of foreboding, Then she had thought it was her disgust with what Hatter had been through, but now, she had a feeling ti was a warning. She didn't know why, or of what, but something was very, terribly, wrong.

The female diamond turned a corner, and Alice rushed to keep up with her. She rounded the corner before any of the other did, and stopped just as the card guard had done to stand awestruck.

Roses bigger than they were loomed overhead. On the floor, 3 feet away from them in either direction, grew giant mushrooms. These mushrooms were covered in spots, as the roses were covered in thorns, and not quite in bloom. In between the cracks in the floor grew thistles, which looked like cruel spikes on a ball. They seemed to be swaying back and forth, despite the lack of wind. Indeed, everything in this room, from the usual ferns on the walls to even the mushrooms looming large, everything seemed to be swaying.

Cautiously, the Ten stepped forward, and motioned for the rest of them. Rabbit stepped up beside her then, and placed a comforting hand on Ten's shoulder. She looked at him, smiling gratefully, and then kept going. Rabbit fell in beside Alice then, and, hesitantly, they both stepped forward.

Alice was keeping her eyes on the mushrooms. She had never seen any so large, and that worried her. She knew how mushrooms were grown, bu making themselves a home in wood and then rising to the surface. There was no wood here. Indeed, there was no anything, just stone and cold. What was their purpose in this place?

A scream ahead told her. The diamond Ten had tripped over one the thistles in the floor, which seemed to have maliciously put itself in her way, ending her life with a vile deed. Ad she fell, the mushroom had suddenly come alive. Along it's outer rim teeth shows, and the spots on it's top blinked and proved to be eyes. With a great lurch, it's whole body began to fold and open on itself, causing a sucking motion that was quickly pulling Ten toward it no matter how the card struggled. In a final moment, Alice saw the Ten's painted face as it disappeared beneath the mushroom's top, and then watched as horrible chewing motions began to make themselves obvious in the mushroom's body.

"No!" Alice screamed, and jumped forward. Then Mushroom started the same sucking motion again, and when ti did, she saw the card's hand and arm appear from beneath the folds. It was grasping for something, anything. She was alive. Alice made a grab for the hand, and caught. The glory was short lived, because then the mushroom swallowed them both.

It was dark, dank, and very smelly inside the mushroom. Alice felt herself pressed against both Ten's body and the mushroom's walls. It was like they were in another dimension, where everything was dark and... fleshy. She reached out into the darkness and found Ten's hand. This she grasped, knowing that, fi they were going to die, at least it wouldn't be alone.

The mushroom seemed to gag. Alice questioned it at first until, no, it was definitely gagging. "It can't fit us both in it's body! Keep hold of my hand!" her words were muffled due to the pressing of tissues on her face, but her message was clear. Ten held her hand, and the mushroom kept gagging. It opened wide... and threw them to another mushroom.

This one was bigger, and hadn't gotten tired trying to chew the ten yet. However, as Alice soon discovered, the mushrooms didn't have any teeth on the inside of their mouths, only on the outer rim as a self defense; they weren't going to be eaten.

Around the third toss to a different mushroom Alice became very weak. It was very straining to hold onto Ten's hand (for they were both afraid of what could happen if they let go) and more to the point, all of this chewing and spitting was beginning to take a toll on her body. SHe didn't know how much longer she could take it.

Another spit. Another toss. This time in the brief moment between mushrooms she saw her friends' faces. They were rushing toward her, mushrooms all around them... then darkness. Again she smelt the stretch of rot coming off the putrid fungi, and knew this time she coudlnt' last. Her hand was slipping... there was no chance.

A sound of a inhumane scream and Alice and Ten fell from the mushroom's body. She looked up, her strength returning, to see that a dagger had been slammed into it's eyes. The other fungi had grown silent, suddenly dazed, possibly due to seeing one of their own dying. Alice looked over at Ten who was laying on the floor, also beginning to stand. For a second it was like looking in a mirror, seeing another unsure blond girl just trying to find her way. Then she saw Ten smile and straighten her diamond uniform.

"Thank you, Alice." said Ten.

"You're welcome." Alice replied, also smiling.

People showered them both with hugs and I'm-so-glad-you're-okay, but Alice pushed them off after less than a minute. So did Ten. There was no time for such things, they had a job to do.

Accepting Hatter's arm to lean on, they kept walking. Now the foliage was becoming thicker, and where live roses once swooped down and tried to snap at Alice, a new kind of flower was appearing. Was it just her, or was that dandelion trying to lure Alice closer to it? Did that bread and butter fly just whisper something in Alice's ear, something like a threat? Indeed, it seemed that the plants themselves looked different. Where the flowers that attacked once looked just like the ones that didn't attack, here the petals looked like hair, the buds at the center faces, and long leaves like arms either wrapped around a womanly stalk or stood basking from a willowy male stem. The butterflies, once seemingly simple creatures of bread and butter, now looked... elegant. Their wings were patterned, and swirled, with interesting eyes that when the butteries perched and spread their wings, they looked like they were watching you. The soft flutter made it seem like speaking from a mouth, and it seemed as though the plants themselves were moving, whispering... The air was alive.

They entered a room where all the paths formed into one long hall. This they set down. It was lined with lots of lily flowers, seeming like women wearing intricate head dresses. None of the lilies moved to stop them, though Alice was sure she saw one wave and another snicker from the corner of her eyes. She gripped Hatter's coat in unease; her feeling of of dread was rising.

Upon arriving in the last room she found it's floors to be pristine and white, except for the walls, which were covered by red and white roses. These roses were wearing gowns of dew drops, and hung over one another in a seductive way, becoming all to come closer. They didn't hold Alice's attention for long, however. She quickly turned her eyes to what everyone else was staring at

In the center of the room, on great thrones, sat the royalty of Diamonds. They looked suspiciously like the club royals, only... off... The Clubs had been brunettes, and proud and regal, though perhaps too bent on tradition. The Diamonds... Well...

The King was wearing leather pants and lounging back in his chair, smoking a hookah. However, where Caterpillars had been ornate with symbols of celebration, this one was pure black and smoked pure black smoke. He wore no shirt, opting instead of leather straps zig-zaged across his chest once, and showed off how muscled his torso was.. His hair was very long, and silvery blond, parted to reveal a strong jaw line and smoldering eyes.

His wife lay draped across her chair, wearing next to nothing. True, she wore a gown, but it was sheer. So sheer, in fact, that Alice wasn't 100% sure her skin wasn't just slightly on the shiny side as her cards' skin seemed to be. Her actual clothes were a white and red corset shirt, with the main color being white and them a small pattern of diamonds and a trim of red on the ends. This showed off her shapely body, with high heeled shoes on her long legs. If she WAS Wearing a sheer gown, it seemed to be ribbed at the chest, adding for a more elegant look to her otherwise obvious corset. The most striking feature about her was her hair; it was long, flowing and red. It seemed to cascade down her body and fall in pulled ringless around her face, setting off her lined eyes and ruby lips perfectly.

To the Queens right was Jack of Diamonds. Rings glittered from his hands, but that wasn't the only sparkle about him. His hair was perfectly blond, almost yellow, and came down just to his shoulders where it was cut in an angular fashion. Where the previous Jack had been feminine but easily recognizable as a boy, the Jack of Diamonds could have passed for a woman if he needed to any day of the week. A slim face gave way to a slim neck and then to a slim, fit body, with legs that seemed to go on forever. A closer look at the tightness in his red and black costume showed that these legs and attractive body were powerfully built and more than able to take on anyone who came too close. That that anyone would get too close. The ringed hand that glittered in the light also wielded a large spear, topped with a diamond shaped blade which, if Alice could guess the obvious, was also edged in diamond.

To the Left of the King stood the Ace. While it was obvious to Alice what the Ace would have looked like and been wearing (it was supposed to be a blank card after all) she didn't know how the Ace of Diamonds would choose to jazz it up. That he would be very well muscles, wearing a white outfit, Alice was not disappointed. However, where the Club's face had been a simple club and nothing more, this Ace had glittering diamond-shaped eyes and a large smiling-shaped "mouth". There was something very sinister about such a powerful being seeming to smile at you; it was like it was edging you on. As Alice watched, he brought his hand up and pointed to something in the shadows behind him over his back. Alice followed his gesture, and wrenched.

She saw him. No, him wasn't right, she would have to say it here. She saw it. The thing. Centipede. It was walking closer, coming out of the shadows now, to stand next to the royalty. The only thing Alice could be grateful for was the fact that it wasn't in any way a huminiod body; she would have hated seeing human legs and hands on such a vile replica of life. The centipedes Alice had known of were small things with many arms and legs; curious creatures but harmless. This one had a foul face and seemed to breath forth from it's mouth the same vile stench that Alice had been pressed against inside the mushrooms. It's mouth was curved into a dark smile that revealed many rows of dank teeth. It's many legs made a series of clicking sounds as it approached, and in it's "hand" it carried the pieces of a rib cage. There was still meat on the bone.

"Welcome!" The Centipede's voice was as oily as it's skin used to be. "I see you have come to be an audience o the Court of Diamonds."

"We have come to stop this evil!" Two was speaking, his voice clear and firm. Alice thought she saw one of the white roses tilt it's head.

Centipede laughed, a gold, heartless laugh. As he did, so did the royals. They seem so mindless... she thought. "Surely you do not think to stop me?" Centipede continued, walking over to the Queen of Diamonds. "Do you not see the hold I have over them... Over you?" He pulled her clothes down and ran a hand over her chest, cutting the skin. Blood as red as her hair slid down her skin.

"Stop this!" The voice came from Ten, looking outraged. Alice looked over at her. She was shaking so bad even her hair was showing it, and her hands were balled into fists.

"Ah, I see I've struck a nerve"

"Shut up, you foul beast!" Ten screamed before he could even snicker. "I know what you have done with my Queen, with my royal family... I will not let you continue!"

"None of us will!" A four from the back called. the other cards chimed in, and the Eight even places a hand on Ten's shoulder, her eyes a cold fire.

Centipede merely laughed at this show of bravery. "You are all idiots." he replied blithely. "You really don't realize what is going on, do you?"

"We know we have to stop you!" Ten screamed again. Alice was beginning to feel a rush of pride for this card, sounding so much like herself. Her eyes hardened as well, and she knew everyone was reading their weapons for a fight. She, too, was reaching for the knife she had strapped behind her back. "And we will."

Everyone started toward Centipede. "Everyone, please, calm down." He held up his arms in mock protest. When he saw that the group of warriors was not relenting, even going as far as to draw their blades. Centipede started to look angry. "You will listen to me, you stupid little children!"

He stepped away from the Queen, and the card guards followed him still. Centipede didn't want any longer. He cried out in rage, and threw his arms into the air. All at once the many vines that had lined the floor, indeed, the flowers that had covered the walls moved in a flash. The clatter of steel on stone was ringing in Alice's ears long before she realized she couldn't move her arms. It didn't take long to grasp her situation.

All the vines and flowers had wrapped themselves around the bodies of the cards, Hatter, Rabbit, and Alice herself. On the throne, the royalty, too, had been swallowed in binds of plants on their thrones. Some of the flowers had glimmering sharpened leaves at their throats, ready to slice on command. Alice was fearful, and yet, was so bound she didn't even shiver.

"Now that I have your attention..." Centipede here disposed of the ribcage by swallowing it whole. He readied himself, allowed himself a burp and an oddly polite 'excuse me', and then went on with his speech. "Now I know some of you think I'm evil, and what not. You say I have defied the natural citizens of this area, and taken over your 'Court of Diamonds'. Well I have news for you: you're wrong!" With this last statement he spit the words out, as though meaning to throw them directly into their faces. "You, YOU are the evil ones! Look at you. Disgusting. You all simply wanted to fight and didn't care that you were leaving your land unguarded and don't you DARE say that sentence Ten!" Ten had started to say something but he slapped her across the face before she could. "No, you DID abandon them. When I arrived here do you know what they were doing? Bathing in gold." His eyes were crazy. "Counting the money they had undoubtedly stolen from the treasuries after our Queen left, bless her fat ass, and fucking. That's right, fucking. And not even each other. Anything they could get their hands on. I didn't even have to take over! I walked in welcomed! They were so open to the idea of new things to play with they even gave me their power... It was so easy..." Alice was watching the color drain from the card guards' faces. Centipede continued, his voice sounding impossibly happy. "All I did was make a few creations for them and... that was it. There was no one left. Well, that's not true... There was one... Milton, March Hare's father. You remember him? Yes..." he said, noting the shocked look on all the faces. "Yes, I killed him. He was hold up in one of the towers, had locked himself there after you left with some of the more important documents; apparently he was still trying to keep some order in Wonderland. Fool..." Centipede looked angry. "The Mad March Hare trying to keep some logic to the madness. That is not the way of Wonderland! Anyone knows this!

"Ah but you betrayed him" Centipede turned back toward his prisoners. "You betrayed him, your lands, your royals. They practically begged me to take over. I remember the day I put this spell on them. Didn't notice a thing, until they couldn't notice things anymore. I had never had such an easy time... Ah, you." His gaze finally fell on Alice, held close to Hatter and Rabbit. "You, you... blond haired slut. Thought I didn't know?" His eyes opened wide in mock vindication. "Oh dear what have I said... But of course I know." Now his usual look fell back to his face. "You and Hatter. Together. I heard your screamed his name. Hatter, I'm surprised at you more than I am at her. I thought you were smarter than to let yourself be used again. Surely you realize that this little whore is just using you like Hare was?"

"No, it's not, AHH!" Alice felt the pain of her organs threatening to pop and stopped talking.

"Shut your face, outsider. These plants obey my every thought." He made sure Alice's mouth was closed before going on. "But, you're right, it is harsh of me to lie to you in your final moments... No, Hatter. Alice was not using you. But yes, I do know. I dare say everyone in Wonderland, even Match Hare must know. It's on every Phantasmagoria's lips, if they have them. Speaking March Hare... I do wonder what he will do once I hand you over to him."

"No, don't! Please it- Agh" Alice couldn't even properly scream this time, the blonds were so tight. They were cutting off her air. What was she to do? She saw moment out of the corner of her eyes and tried to turn toward it. She managed to see the rest of her friends, her comrades, quivering. They, also were trying to fight to breath.

"You didn't listen to me did you, outsider?" Centipede was walking backwards toward the thrones, smiling. "Now you will all die for associating with this outsider. It is the way of Wonderland."

Alice was dying. She was really dying. Her eyes were going black and she knew her friends were dying, too. She felt the vines closing around her throat, making bright lights pop in font of her eyes. She remembered the first time she saw then, in the garden. The flowers had sang and danced and told her of how to become a Queen... Tigerlilly, the bread and butter flies kissing Tulip, and then beautiful White Rose so much like the one who now was ending her life. She wondered once more what would have happened if someone had picked a flower. Would a knew one have grown back? Would it have died, or kept talking even separated from soil and root?

Funny things to think about when you're dying... she thought as she closed her eyes.

"Alice."

The voice was firm.

"ALICE."

The voice was loud.

"Alice this is the Creator. You are not dying. I will not allow it."

Alice's eyes opened. Her breathing returned to normal, despite the continued pressure on her throat.

"You know what you have to do. You know what you CAN do. Use my words. Stop this evil."

Centipede was watching everything with a sick smile on his face when Alice said her command. It was one, soft word, barely audible in the room full of squirming, suffering creatures, but it was enough to make the plants do what was asked.

"Stop"

All at once, everyone took a gasp of air. Everyone except Alice. Her lungs were already breathing fine.

"Let me go."

Alice dropped to the floor.

"Let them go."

10 card guards, Hatter, and White Rabbit hit the floor. They fell on their knees. gasping for air.

"Stay where you are."

This seemed to work on everyone. The planets didn't move, her friends didn't get up, staring at her. Even Centipede felt rooted to his spot, frozen in the horror that Alice had escaped her bonds, and somehow, freed everyone else.

"You are always going on about what is the way of Wonderland." Alice's voice was cold, distant, and somehow, not her own. "You have no idea what you are talking about."

Alice reached up to her neck and pulled the Emblem of Clubs from it's chain. She was feeling a slow burning anger, the same kind as when she had heard Hatter being tortured. This time, however, she was in control. The Emblem of Clubs became a sword in her hand as she walked to him. Centipede's eyes fell to it. Now he was afraid.

"The King of Clubs gave me this when he told me where I was heading. I know now; he meant for em to destroy you."

"No, NO!" Centipede screamed, finally falling back. "No, it won't it can't end like this! I rule the Diamonds. Me! ME!"

"You rule nothing, slave. Now you die as nothing." The sword was quick and do the point. Purple goo, it couldn't have been blood, spilled onto the floor. From the spot that he died, the plants melted away. The Stone became white, the flowers went back to sleeping in their pattern on the wall, and the floor became murals of diamonds. Alice felt a warmth on her skin and looked up. The sun was out, the sky blue, and falling in long golden rays through the stained glass ceiling of a crown of jewels.

Alice looked in front of her. One by one, the Royals of Diamonds, the Queen, the King, the Ace, and the Jack, "awoke" from the stone thrones. Alice watched spellbound as each one took up their regal stance on legs or seated, and then turned to their court. Alice, too, turned. Every card guard in attendance was bowing low, along with Hatter and Rabbit. She looked back at the royals. They were all looking puzzled at the sword in Alice's hand, still stained with Centipede's slime. She smiled, dropped her sword, and then dropped to her knees, kneeling low.

"Your Majesties? Alice of Wonderland at your service."


	15. out with the light

Authors note: Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so bloody long and after all this time the chapter's short. It's been a whole heck of a lot of drama these past few years, but now that I'm back, this story can go on! I also have another one, a Harry Potter fic, told from Snape's point of view, that I'm gonna try, and I'm pretty sure I can get them both out in fairly quick updates. So, here goes! Again, sorry it's short, but next chapter is gonna be crazy crazy long, so hopefully it'll even out in the long run. Hope you like it!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Alice had been sitting in the conference room in the High Tower of Diamonds for what felt like years. The back and forth and forth and back between the White Rabbit and the King of Diamonds, now looking the part that the taint was ended, had lasted all night and most of the morning. The card guards were long dismissed, and while both Alice and Hatter's presence was expected, neither of them had been expected to speak thus far.

Alice looked about the room. Already the vines of foliage were being melted away to reveal sparkling stone and granite that looked like crystal. The table and chairs they sat at where formed by large golden birds holding perfectly still. The crane-like beings constantly breathed a perfumed scent into the room, meant to give anyone trying to debate a clearer mind. Servants that looked like glass floated in skirts of dew and occasionally brought food and drink for the spectators.

She smirked. _We are spectators..._ The King of Diamonds was arguing over just about everything with White Rabbit, from the assumption that Alice was a member of the Wonderland family simply because she stated it, to if any of the things Rabbit insisted were true, to whether or not he was even a rabbit. Rabbit, for his part, had tried to answer calmly and coherently at first, but by now was losing his 'cool'. His hair and fur were mussed. His attire was disheveled. He had a strange twitch to his eye Alice was sure hadn't been there before. The King didn't look much better. Neither he nor the King seemed very composed, and Alice would bet anything that, if it weren't for the serene breathing of the furniture, both of them would have given up on talking and started exchanging blows.

_This would remind me of the Club's court_, Alice mused. _Except less people, and he seems much less willing to put on a show for us._

The next round of food brought her out of her musing and back into the conversation. The Glass Servers were handing her things that looked like chocolate eclairs and tasted like raspberry heaven. She took a bite and started listening again.

"-I don't see any proof as to the battle having started."

So it was back to this.

"The King of Clubs gave his proof, when he sent us his crest."

They had circled this subject at least 50 times, and each time the King insisted Rabbit had no idea what he was talking about, and each time Rabbit tried to explain. It didn't seem to matter to the King that Alice was here, that the Chess Pieces were on the attack, that the Clubs had sent them on their way, or even that they had been locked in what could best be described as an evil spell by a centipede. _It's like trying to explain color to a blind man..._ Alice thought.

"This girl being here means little to me." They had long stopped trying to pretend Alice wasn't Alice with everyone- it wasted time, and usually worked in their favor when it was found it. It didn't seem to be working, here.

The King ignored the offered food and reached instead for a glass of something Alice labeled 'wine'. It complained as you drank it. "She's been here before, and it meant little then."

"It meant EVERYTHING then!" Rabbit was screaming. He had been ignoring everything offered since dawn broke. Alice was amazed he still had a voice to be so upset with. "Surely you remember what happened last."

"The Court of Hearts' grief is important to us. But I don't see what any of that has to do with her belonging here."

"Surely you must realize no ordinary guest could have done that to the central rule of Wonderland! It had to be someone special!"

"I am the King! I realize what I want!"

_That's it_, Alice thought. _We've come to a standstill. I'm almost glad._

No one looked at each other. For a few moments, the only sounds were those of the Glass Servers leaving to... wherever. Then the Jack spoke.

"Sire..." his voice sounded small and sharp in the shined stone room. "I know it is hard to believe but... Surely he wouldn't be arguing his case this long with someone of your stature unless he was sure of himself?"

The King stood from the table and turned on the Jack. "So my own cortege turns against me."

"Your Majesty..." the Queen rose slowly, her gem studded gown looking like a waterfall, her face looking worn. Alice raised her eyebrow at the use of proper title. "I think that, at least, if they've been at it this long..."

"Perhaps we should let the girl speak for herself." All eyes turned to the Ace, looming in the corner. The effect of his blunt speech was not lessened by the masked face.

Hatter stood. "If she does, will you listen?"

White Rabbit looked at the King, who was looking at his wife as if he'd never seen her before. Tense seconds passed, and then the King relaxed a fraction, and nodded. Everyone let out the breath of air they realized they'd been holding, and Hatter and Rabbit turned to look at Alice. Hatter looked hopeful, Rabbit defeated. The latter spoke. "Very well. Alice, tell your story."

"I... don't really know what to tell." It felt strange being the only one still sitting, so she stood and continued. "I never knew what happened after I left, and I didn't know if I'd been here or not. I was a girl. Well, a younger girl..." Her eyes caught Hatter's. He nodded her forward, so she kept speaking, feeling bolder. "When I got back, and Rabbit told me what the Queen had done, it wasn't a question of whether or not it was true. It was a matter of there were people, friends, looking to me for help, and I could help them, so I should. It hasn't been easy, and at certain times it was utterly terrifying."

"You have talked with my brother, the King of Clubs?" The sudden question threw Alice off. She nodded. "What did you think of his part of the story?"

"His court is much like yours, Grace."

"How do you mean?" He strolled slowly away from her as he spoke.

"Lots of debating, not a lot of answers."

Hatter laughed, which was quickly silenced by the Ace suddenly moving. He stopped abruptly, and Ace turned the motion into crossing his arms across his chest.

The King paced to a window, which was overlooking his kingdom. He continued. "Answers to what, exactly?"

Alice looked quickly at Rabbit, who sighed and sat, rubbing his forehead. Hatter motioned her on before sitting with his friend. _He's tried for so long to get him to realize..._ What more could she possibly ask that Rabbit hadn't asked a million times already? She took a deep breath and continued. "We just want to know if you can help us to the Spades."

"What if I can't?"

Another long paused, as this time Alice looked at the Queen, who gave no hint of how best to answer. Slowly she answered. "If you truly can't, or won't, then we can find help no where else. The Clubs will go to battle, with no one at their backs. First to the Land of Fire and Brimstone, where there is doubtless a giant army of Chess Lords waiting, and behind them, the March Hare and his monstrous horde. One by one, valiant and bold though their deaths may be, they will die. And the whole land will be overrun."

She couldn't see his face as he replied. "You have proof of this?"

Her face was stern. "I have proof enough to convince your noble brother."

"He never needs an excuse to fight."

"But there is always an excuse needed to call for war." She grabbed the Club's token where it lay on the table of birds and held it out to his back. "And war is called."

The King didn't move, merely stood there. Alice wondered if he was listening, and was seriously considering doing something stupid like leaving the room, when he spoke.

"My land is very fair."

She stared at him.

"Our land, I suppose I should say."

Alice, Hatter, and Rabbit all looked up. He turned slowly towards them, and they all gazed into the King's face, trying to read what lay in his eyes. They seemed bright, even considering he was a Diamond, and harder than they'd been previous, but it didn't seem directed at them. The Queen walked to him, and he put his arm around her.

"You believe us?" Rabbit asked, rising to his feet with Hatter's.

"I suppose I did the moment you showed me the crest your lady is now holding." He inclined his head to the Club's token. "I just didn't want to believe that, after all these long, backwards years, she was indeed one of us." He smiled at Alice, who felt a slight blush appear in her cheeks. "But you are Alice of Wonderland, now, aren't you?"

She didn't know what to say. "I... think I always was, My Lord."

He chuckled, then walked fully around the table to the head, where a throne sat. "Enough of titles! War is on. Spymaster! Battlemaster!" The Jack and the Ace stepped forward, and knelt in the same fluid movement.

The King looked back to the trio. "The Spades lie over the Southern Hills, past our mines. They will not care what show of loyalty you give them. Their allegiance is to themselves- and to the Queen, whose last orders they are still carrying out. Yours shall be a test of courage.

"Your time with us was short. This is good. If you hurry, you may still save many of our citizens, wrong accused of death by the Madness of the Good Queen Hearts. Provisions can be gathered for you immediately. You must go, now if possible."

"We will be ready in under an hour." Hatters response cane quick and clear.

"Then all speed to you."

As the sunset shown red and gold around them, they rushed out of the keep and across the plains, the King watching from his Tower. Someone else watched too, someone with a seeing crystal, sending orders to the chess pieces to be ready to move soon.


	16. the paths of needles and pins

The first night was spent riding hard. Alice had always heard horses tired quickly; perhaps because of the place they were in, or their need driving them, the horses lasted until nearly dawn before needing to rest. At that point they were deep in a forest, with trees so thick it seemed darker than near sunrise. Alice would have thought it still was, but Rabbit, who could smell the wind, insisted it was morning.

No one had any interest in sleeping, but sleep slowly happened. When they woke, Rabbit said it was late afternoon; it looked the same as it had before. They couldn't ride as hard now, because of how dense the woods were. Hatter said that was a good sign; they were getting closer to the Spade's Land. Alice thought the way everything was enclosing them was very creepy. She rode up next to Rabbit on the narrow path to talk.

"Rabbit," Alice said, eyeing the trees and speaking in very low tones. "Is it just me, or are the trees here watching us?"

Rabbit looked amused, and actually laughed a little. "Don't be silly Alice. Of course they are."

"What?" Her eyes nearly popped out of her skull.

"All things in Wonderland have life in them." Hatter had rode up next to Rabbit on the other side. "Surely it is the same where you came from?"

"Well, yes," Alice admitted, "but there the trees don't watch us... They're just... Trees."

Rabbit looked thoughtful. "Well, the trees ARE trees, it's not like they move, or dance, or even speak. But they are always watching, and listening, and can even tell us and others things, if they want to."

Alice tried to figure out how a tree would talk, then shook her head. "Wait, so, they could give away our position out here?"

"Not likely." Hatter interjected. "The trees like being alive, and they don't have the same kind of complex thinking of sides and power, the way we do. The trees just want to be alive, and they know what would happen to them if March Hare won."

"What would happen?" Alice asked.

"That." Rabbit had pulled up short. Alice followed his gaze, and nearly vomited. The tree in front of them had a limb that was partly falling off and rotting. But it wasn't rotting the way she was used to; when the tree turns brown or black and goes soft. Its bark was falling off in chunks, revealing a white and pink kind of pus beneath. The area around the branch was green, with lumpy brown scabs. She didn't know what in her made her think scabs, except... There was no other word for it. It looked as though the tree had been wounded, infected, and was now festering, dying slowly. Rabbit, too, looked sick.

"The madness of the March Hare, readjusting the balance of power between the suits of cards, has caused many things. Out where he is, a place currently known as the Noss Fens, it's worse; it's rotting and wicked and full of... abominations. I don't know if sanity will ever touch that place." He shook his head sadly side to side, and shivered. "But... The Spades... They were so close to the Hearts because... The King is the Royal Executioner." He leaned in close, his shadowed face looking almost skeletal. "And we all know how many people the Queen wished dead." He pulled back and looked back out into the trees. "It has caused the Spades to be blighted, and the land as pestilential as their rulers. And so, it spreads. an epidemic of the land rotting, and dying."

"Can we do anything?" Alice's voice was soft as she surveyed the tree.

Rabbit shook his head. "Only one kind of tree is immune to the plague, and the Sentinel Pines only watch; they do not let us in on their secrets. The rest of the trees are nervous as they wait, wondering who will be next."

A soft wind blew through the ticket, and Alice was sure she felt it; the soft sighs and murmurings of the trees around her... Fear. "The trees are afraid..." There was no anger mixed in, threatening to lash out at the visitors; such a thing would have burned. It was cold, and seemed to cry out for help to anyone that could listen.

Hatter nodded. "The wind that blows comes from the Kingdom of Spades, where nothing grows now... And where we are going. Once we get there, the air will stop moving. No wind can blow there, because nothing is alive to blow it."

"We have to go, though, don't we?" Alice replied. Hatter nodded. She looked past the tree, where the deepest part of the woods seemed to stand, waiting for them.

They kept riding. Alice didn't know it was possible, but as time went on the shadows were growing longer. The stench of decay filled their nostrils, and the . Alice moved her horse closer to Hatter, who gave her a reassuring smile and took her hand. She studied his face.

"Are you alright, in this place?"

He brushed his hair from his eyes and kissed her hand. "I am when I'm with you, my lady."

Alice smiled in spite of herself. She knew she loved him, but it seemed like, ever since that night, she'd felt so strange. Like, something was watching them, that didn't like them. It was impossible to voice these feelings, just as it was impossible to wonder if she'd done the right or wrong thing thus far; it was done, no undoing it. But where the past was the past, and she refused to regret her past or path, this was a formless worry in her chest that grew stronger with each step into the dark forest.

When they camped last night, Rabbit told Alice more about the Spades, while Hatter held her close for comfort. "This much is known of the King of Spades. He is a powerful man, who already goes by his name. No one calls him this however, because everyone, even the rabid creatures who crawl throughout the Wyld, don't want to attract his attention.

"The Black King is the only one who allows his Ace to carry a weapon. Both he and the Ace wield a giant double-headed axe, without decoration. They are a rare kind of metal, formed from the Undying Blacksmiths deep under the volcanoes in the Land of Fire and Brimstone, and will never dull. When they were polished, the substance used was the gelatinous remains of a Phantasmagoria, causing it to never rust. He is also the only ruler to have the Roles of Protection reversed; the Ace protects the Queen, and the Jack reports to the King." Rabbit lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "The Spade Lord values information above all else, and the Jack is a silent shadow by his side at times... At least, we think its all times."

He straightened up and brushed the dust off his vest, a motion Alice had come to realize meant he was calming his nerves. "Now, beyond this we speculate. There are rumors that his castle is a great fortress, where the innocent lay in cages, wasting away because there is no food to give them. There are also rumors that there are no prisoners, and rather than finish all the orders given to the Spades by the Mad Queen as she ran screaming into her Maze, High Lord Spade merely had his Queen look each one sentenced in the eyes and turn them to stone, and the whole place is populated with their frozen forms. There is yet another that says his castle was once much smaller, and it is with the prisoners, turned to brick by an evil art known only to the Dark Spymaster, that it has become the stronghold it is now. Which, if any of these are true, no one knows.

"There are even rumors as to his appearance. His face has been reported as stunningly beautiful, also horribly disfigured. The thought that each is true and his appearance changed with the land is folly; there is no timeline on which either hearsay started. He has been reported to wear a cloak of darkness, full plate armor that reflects no light, nothing but shadows, and nothing at all; that his very skin is the night, his eyes, hair, and details the stars, and his smile the crescent moon. The appearance of his Queen, his Ace, his Guards, his Jack, are all unknown; even though there are those who have seen them, there are none who speak of them.

"The last whispered tale is of warning, that should anyone wish an audience with His Grace, none should go and display love, that since the fall of the Hearts, he cannot abide it; and none can survive in his dead kingdom."

Alice shivered, and held Hatter close. The warmth of the fire seemed distant now, and the cold dread of the trees close. And, there was something else; something that lingered beyond where her eyes could see, that called to her as much as it tried to beg her to stay far, far away.

If there was sleep that night, Alice didn't realize. To her, it was a restless night, full of foreboding and horror that she could not name. As much as she wanted to tell herself that, rumors being rumors, there was no way those things could be true... It creeped into her mind with a chill, despite the warmth of a banked fire and Hatter laying close. She prayed it was not as appalling as all that.

The third day, and the second since the land started dying as Hatter had said, the trees around them were starting to thin out. Those that were there were almost completely consumed by the corrupt land. In some trees the layers of bark and whatever else had worn away to a hard white substance. Alice couldn't shake the feeling it was bone.

It was midday (the sun had long stopped informing them of the proper time, it still seemed morning), when Alice suddenly looked up from the neck of her horse. Her nose had been filled with the smell of offal that it had grown used to it, and the breeze from up ahead was remarkable in that it didn't contain it.

"Hatter! Rabbit!" She had been leading; the path was straight so there was no one person who 'knew the way'. Her friends were a few feet behind her. "The breeze! The air is clear ahead!"

Neither of them looked excited. "It means we're almost in the Spade's Land."

Alice was slightly troubled. She thought the others would have been cheered by the clear breeze; she also didn't see a reason to not enjoy the fact they were approaching the Spade Court. Then she blinked.

In front of her was a great wall of trees. It stretched as far as she could see in any direction, and seemed thick and imposing. The trees around them had long stopped giving off any kind of emotion, and these trees were no different. But the others had been succumbing to contagion. These tall pines gave no hints of being afraid, or in any way bothered by what was going on.

Rabbit moved his horse beside her. "It's the Sentinel Pines, Alice. They guard the entrance to the Land of Spades."

He pulled his horse slightly forward. The air suddenly electrified with an unspoken warning. Was it just Alice's imagination, or did the sky grow darker? Rabbit looked unworried. He said in a high, clear voice.

"I am the White Rabbit, the once guardian of the Queen of Heart's court. I bring with me 2 visitors. By your leave, we wish entrance to the Land of Spades."

There was a moment where Alice felt a huge weight lay on her head, shoulders, and chest, and then just as quickly all was well. Alice almost expected a bird to chirp.

"Come on," Rabbit called to them. "They're going to let us pass." He stepped into the trees, and all noise to him was lost.

"I'll go next." Hatter trotted past her on his mare, then he too, disappeared into the foliage.

Alice looked up at the trees. Now that they had their leave, the trees seemed like normal pine trees. She sat starring at them, wondering what intelligence they had, what they knew. A branch near her head rustled. Alice didn't need a second warning. She walked through the branches.

The first thing she noticed was the light. It shown in a bright whiteness that was not of any sun she'd ever known. The second thing was the landscape. There were no leaves anywhere, or even the hint there had ever been leaves. Trees tall and straight, with branches at their tops going in every direction stood all around her, and were white as though they had been bleached by the strange luminescence. She trotted over to one, and cautiously placed a hand on it. She was sure; it was bone.

She suddenly realized something; it was quiet. Way too quiet. Her horsed didn't make any sound when he walked to the trees, and she couldn't hear her breathing... or the breathing of her comrades. She turned, and felt a hand go to her throat.

"Hello Alice. Welcome to the Land of Spades."


	17. Needs Convincing

thanks for bearing with me all this time. I hope to actually finish the story now... We'll see. Anyway, here you go... Warning: This chapter contains a crazy sex scene. Enjoy!

~-kl~-l

Alice woke feeling hot. Strangely hot. Not the hot of general heat, like she'd felt in long summers visiting her eccentric grandmother in Egypt, a different kind. Warm. Breathy. Steam.

Her eyes decided to open, finally, and she raised her head. Long lines of mirrored black rock greeted her, turning the floor and walls into a solid endless surface that reflected none of them. Curious, she looked around from her place on the floor. Yes, her friends were behind her, but reflective though the material seemed, it showed nothing. Blue eyes wandered up the walls to see if the ceiling was the same, and noticed the source of her strange feeling. Mechanical gears attached to pipes were turning, pushing a vapor out of jets set in the brass snaking the top of the room. She sat up, and put her hand to the stone wall. It was wet.

"You have been wandering far from the path, White… Didn't you learn your lesson from the fate of your Mistress?"

A silky voice sang from ahead, and a piece of dark broke free, fingering a long lance. Behind her, she heard Rabbit shudder and twitch.

"Forgive me, Spymaster… I h-had business-"

"I know what you had." Reflections of light, the only thing the walls reflected, hit the shadow's face, revealing a white youth with black features. He turned liquid eyes to Alice. "Not much of a card, am I, World-Walker?"

"Leave her out of this, Nox." Hatter stood, snarling with closed fists. Alice gasped as the air breathed, and the Jack of Spades put his lance to Hatter's throat.

"You have no right to use that name here, _Tea Master._"

"Enough." The unseen voice drummed, and lance and fist was lowered tensely. "You know your orders, _Jack_. Bring them."

The Jack motioned with a snide smile and a flick of blade, and turned down the corridor. Alice bit her lip.

"D-don't worry n-now, Alice." Rabbit spoke, his voice sounding like the scared prey she knew a rabbit was. "We are s-safe, in the S-spade's c-castle."

"We're safe nowhere." Hatter's tone of no-nonsense was low as the light. She felt him take her hand in his, and met eyes that had suddenly gone an odd, cold purple. "We can do this, Alice." He whispered, his mouth a thin line. She nodded, trying to feel his boldness as she took a deep breath. She started walking.

Footpads ahead echoed in the soft gloom, which became brighter and dimmer as rooms were passed. The whole place seemed to whine without ever seeming to turn. It had to whine, or else, how were they passing such rooms? In this one strange creatures like the Minotaur she'd read about in books save for they looked more like deer not bulls poured over a table, making soft conversation and paying the four no heed… In another a great window looked out onto the leafless forest and a line of figures heading to a chopping block stretching as far as the eye could see… In another, a spinning wheel where an old woman sat sleeping clad all in black with a tan face… And in yet another, a great bath house where a blue whale sat humming to itself while several beautiful naked woman crawled all over it, bathing it while they rubbed and licked the creature's massive erection.

Again the air breathed, and the light brightened enough to equal campfire on a moonlit night. Alice's eyes adjusted to see a wide, low room where two thrones sat. The walls here were a kind of tarnished copper color, with bits of bright here and there at utter random. The black stone in the hall was present as well in the form of lamps that hung from an already low ceiling, creating obstacles that were either ducked under or walked around. The marble youth was seen here to be a man the definition of slender, clad with ribbons tied around his form leading a bare shoulder marked with the emblem of Spade the long knife of Jack. He walked to stand behind the occupied throne, leaving the three miniseries to stand in the center of the small throne room.

A previously unnoticed man turned to face them from next to the empty black Kings Seat. He regarded them with slanting eyes, as one might regard a disemboweled mouse the cat had dragged in.

He said nothing.

After a few seconds, Alice felt something, anything, had to be said, and tried to say it. Nothing happened. There was no spell cast, no danger in the speaking, and yet, try as she might, she simply could not speak to this person. Something, something about him… About the too still way he stood, about the impossibly slow pattern to his chest rising and falling, about the cold and indifferent line his mouth made in a face cut from granite, prevented her from uttering a simple phrase. Whatever power his gaze held, she feared it. She could even smell her fear, thick on her skin and on the skin of her comrades, her lover. She felt like she would rather be anywhere, standing in that long line with the others to her doom, than under his gaze… That impossible gaze…

No.

Something in her she was not familiar with or in control of revolted, and she felt herself breathing again. The King of Spades blinked, and his gaze fell for the first time.

"To what do I owe this great honor, Alice?"

The voice like drum beats played on lips of rock. She answered. "I am here with my friends, to end the betrayal of this land."

The Spade King took another step. Every time he did, she noticed his face flickered, like it couldn't decide if it wanted to be an old man or a young one. "You come begging at my door."

"I do not." She said defiantly.

"No. You do, Alice. Your friend White Rabbit does. Your lover, the Formerly-Mad Hatter, does. All of you do. And there is no shame in admitting it…" His form shifted, and he sat in his throne with each word, a strange flickering repeat. "Your quest is impossible."

"Not impossible."

"Yes. Impossible." Cold eyes of living fire looked lightly on her. Hands gripped arms of a throne as evenly, methodically, his deep voice announced each word. "You must think, that I am the same as the others. Needing to be told of you, of your journey, of your trials. I am the King of Spades. My Queen is Death, and Lust, and everywhere she goes or has been, so have I. And you have traveled into the pits of Death and Lust as very, very few others have…" He leaned to his left, to take the woman clad in shapeless veils and a silvery smile's hand and kiss it, without leaving Alice's face. "Indeed, the whole of Wonderland is polluted with the Heartless Queen's poison…"

Alice's eyes widened, and the Ax King laughed. "Ah, so now you understand. And do you, Lover, and you, Adviser, understand also?"

Alice heard Rabbit's voice behind her, "The trees…"

Spade nodded. "Yes, the trees. The land. The Kingdoms of White and Red. The Suited Courts. And it does not help, does it, that the Chess Pieces became bold? That Club saw his turn? And that Mad March Hare heard the whispers of Oblivion and pushed everyone up a move or two? And so…" He sat back further into his seat, triumph playing lazily across his features. "You come to me asking for help on bended knee… And I say to you… Your quest is impossible, and your journey is over."

"But-" began Rabbit.

"No." The King of Spades stopped him with a word. "I know what my brother, Diamond, hoped for in sending you to me. I know what Club hoped for. They do not see as well as I do, they were not the ones sentenced to carry out a million death penalties of innocent people, watching poison drip into the ground with their blood, until the very trees became bones and the carcass of my castle rotted into obsidian. And they have no idea; you three have no idea, what has become of the Queensland. You have no business going there. You should take pleasure in knowing that your efforts will ensure a piece of this land survives and go home. Home." He looked to Alice last, and then raised his hand. The Spaded Ace stepped from nowhere, muscle and mark. His next words, though he looked at them, were to the Ace. "Take them to the boarders of our land, closest to where Club's Court lies. They can find their way back from there.

The Ace moved, and deep inside her, that little sliver inside Alice rebelled again. "I will not go."

"You have no choice." Drummed the King.

"I have a choice. I will not go." The Ace was beside her, taking her hand. "No!" She yelled, snatching her hand away from a faceless form that seemed bewildered in spite of having no features. "I will stay, and fight!" She forced her way past the Ace to the steps of the thrones, anger crackling in her eyes, and all the meekness of a young lady gone. "Let me ask you this, Great King, since you seem to know so much. What part of you thinks I would be here, if it didn't mean I was meant to end this? What part of you thinks Hatter would have been sane enough to know me, to make love to me, if there hadn't been some catalyst in all this death? You say, we know nothing of the Queen, or what her realm has become. I ask you, did I know anything about the Red Lands? Did I know anything, ANYTHING, about what to expect in the Club's Court? You say, our quest is impossible. I ask you, is anything impossible in this world? Is it not possible for castle walls, even household furniture to be called upon for defense? Is it not possible for a kingdom ended to begin again in the space of a moment? And is it not possible for myself, joined by two people who by your standards possess no great bravery or strength renown, to undo years of damage with moments of our time?" She stared at the King, who looked at her thoughtfully. "Answer me!" She demanded, in a voice that shook.

"I answer…" The Spade spoke slowly. "And I say… Perhaps you are right… And then, perhaps you are not. But, it occurs, to me at least, that given the state of the world, there could be no greater damage done to myself or my armies to aid my brothers in combat. However…" he paused, flexing his fingers. "There are more people here in my castle than myself and my armies, and they will need separate convincing."

"The deer men, you mean?" Alice asked.

"Oh, no, those are my prison guards. They will need only a word from me."

Alice, pulling herself back from the Spade, was struck with a thought. "Could you have then release the prisoners from being executed and, instead, have them train the captured for battle?"

"A worthy thought; they would probably greatly approve of that over finding ways of getting on track of execution orders left by Her Majesty; in all these years, with all their plans, they are only half way done." Alice shivered, thinking of how many people the Queen must have ordered dead. "But no, not the Bucks, I was speaking of Lord Oceanic."

She tried to grasp the name. "Lord-?"

"The Blue Whale."

~-Kl~-L-

Alice stood in the Great Bath House.

It was a magnificent structure. The pipes of steam were here, too, leaving a thick layer of saturation over every surface that wasn't wet anyway from the splashing of a blue whale in a large but shallow bathing pool. Giggles and slurps of women were heard beneath the splashing, leaving Alice feeling very distracted and, once again, shy.

The whale itself looked, really, a lot like a whale, with a distinct whale form and a distinct whale tail flapping slowly in the water every once in a while. But no whale Alice had ever seem or heard of would lounge like this one, with its shoulders and arms (really, it's fins) resting lazily on the rim of the sunken bath and head back to sigh and hum at the mist falling into its open mouth. The song it hummed was distinctly calm-whale tune, off only because it was hummed in a lazy, content fashion no whale would ever hum in. It was probably humming that way because the whale hadn't noticed her yet. It also probably had a lot to do with the no-less than ten bare woman at various points around and on the whale, rubbing and massaging the whale with their bodies. She was trying to ignore the whale's cock, only a few short yards from her and with two women grinding it.

"Excuse me, Lord Oceanic?"

Alice's voice sounded surprising confident to her, and she stood a little taller, taking this as a personal sign in her favor. She'd never addressed a whale before, and she felt she'd done a good job for her first try.

A great mouth closed, and the whale's head lowered to look at her. It was bigger than she was. "You know my name, Girl-Creature. Who are you?"

"My name is Alice. The King of Spades has joined me in a fight against those betraying Wonderland, and I was wanting to speak with you about joining the fight as well."

"So Spade's leaving the castle? Any word what he's planning on doing with his handmaidens while he's out?" A more interested Lord Oceanic sat up a bit, upsetting a woman who'd been laying on his shoulder.

Alice rubbed her lips together. "Actually no..." the whale sat back. "But, there is a great deal of glory for those who go to battle with us… And glory means women."

"Heh. Really now?" the Blue Whale made a clicking sound, and all the girls climbed down from him, bowed, and left. The whale's erection, however, stayed, and bobbed distractingly ten feet from where Alice stood.

"You want to know something, Girl-Creature Alice?" Lord Oceanic asked, lifting a long, tapered fin in question. "I know something about glory. My people are all fighters, and we range from whales like myself, to the Dolphins, to the Sharks, to every kind of water being a Legger like yourself could imagine. We have fought on land before; don't look so surprised, it's really not that hard, and we have won glory. It is for that reason I decided to stay up here; water is fine, and I call it home, but I'm a simple whale. I've fought my battles, and become the Lord I am doing it, while staying young." He slapped his chest with a fin here, proudly. "But swimming in the ocean does little to keep a girl tight, and big though I am, it's not much fun to put yourself in something so loose you don't know you're doing anything, and I can't exactly take care of it myself. I prefer it here, in the Spade's castle, because I can relax all day and enjoy myself from as many women as I want."

"But… they'll all be leaving!" Alice exclaimed, losing her even relative calm. "You have to go with them if you want to keep your pleasure!"

"Women don't fight. They'll stay. The men will leave. And even if I have to go, I can probably find somewhere else to enjoy myself." He looked unsure at this last part, but he did add wistfully. "Maybe there, I'll even be able to get myself inside a Legger."

Alice noticed this last and tilted her head in her natural curiousness. She gestured after the empty doorway. "Those girls don't...?"

The Whale shook his head. "Nope, never. They lick and suck, and their mouths and breasts and little wet flowers feel good on my blubber and balls, but I've never been inside."

Alice bit her lip. "If… If I let you inside me… Would you join us?"

"You?" The Whale laughed loud, his fins slapping the bend in his tail. "You tiny thing, you would barely be able to fit a cock like this."

"I'd be very tight though, and maybe half of it could go in." She said hopefully, trying to convince him.

"Well, I'm not gonna say no to that." The Blue Whale perked. "But if you're gonna do that, you're gonna need some lubrication. Take off your clothes and get up here."

The Whale leaned back again, keeping his eyes on Alice. She began to slip out of her clothes, trying not to feel nervous. Her shirt came off first, she hadn't been wearing a bra, and then she began to undo the ties keeping her skirt together, already bare feet tapping the ground anxiously.

"Have you even had sex before, Girl-Creature Alice?" The Whale asked, watching her interested as her skirt fell to the floor.

"Once…" She answered honestly, remembering the night with Hatter; she hadn't had a chance to since then.

The Whale whistled, shaking his head. "Lots of lubrication." Her panties splashed to the floor. "Come on up."

She climbed onto his body at what was probably his waist. He was very warm, but that was probably expected; he was a mammal too, after all. Carefully she climbed up the slippery skin to the top of his chest. "Now, climb into my mouth." The Whale opened his mouth.

"What?" Alice asked.

The Whale closed his mouth and looked at her. "How else to you expect to be slippery enough? I'm trying to help both of us, now get in." He opened his mouth again. She sighed, and climbed in.

His tongue was over his teeth, luckily, and so she got in no trouble. As soon as she'd settled herself, he lowered his upper jaw just enough to where by raising her hands she'd touch the roof of his mouth and be steady. Then his tongue started moving.

At first, it was just slight, feeling the tip of the wet muscle bent its way between her legs and grope along her thighs and lips. Then, when it had done a lot of that and got the feel of her body memorized, it snaked up and she felt the harder blunt tip licking her folds. She felt her clit get hard and moaned, steadying herself by pressing harder into the top of his mouth. The tongue bent, and the broader, slightly more inner part of his tongue caused her legs to bend into the muscle as it licked and lapped her sex. She felt her hips rocking into the lapping on the whale's wet tongue in spite of her earlier reservations.

"Lay down." Came a throaty command barely intelligible all around her. She did. The Blue Whale's tongue folded itself between her legs and pressed itself against her grinding, to taste her sweetness while it licked her breasts. She felt the tip of the whale's tongue rub hard against her pert nipples and moaned, grabbing the sides of his tongue to grind harder.

"Don't get so excited." The voice echoed. "Come on, you're wet."

She sat up shakily and Lord Oceanic's mouth opened wide again to let her out. "You're a tasty girl-creature. You still taste like virgin." Alice had no answer for that as she dripped down to the portion of the Whale's body where his hard cock throbbed. She looked at it. It was half her size, and as thick as two of her wrists with a head like her cupped hand. She was glad it wasn't any bigger. "You should probably still lick that."

Alice bent over and started licking the whale cock's head, dipping her tongue out to either side and running her hands along her slippery body and then along the shaft. She bent more, over double, and licked her way up and down to a little more than half the length of the huge member then back up, managing to get some of the huge head into her mouth without it hitting her teeth.

"Alright Girl-Creature, keep your word." Alice turned around to where her front was facing the whale, and stood up, looking down between her legs. Carefully she positioned the head between her lips. "I promise not to thrust you, Girl-Creature, we don't want you breaking; but you have to keep going until I cum." Alice nodded without looking at him, concentrating on what she was doing. She could feel the head parting her lips now, and on the edge of her opening. She felt the thickness against her womanhood, and let her knees bend it a little. She felt herself stretch and pop slightly, and she gasped as he groaned. He was inside.

Slowly, carefully, she lowered herself. Her hands went to the whale chest in front of her to balance herself, now that she didn't have to guide him in, and gripped as he went deeper. When she couldn't take being any fuller, she stopped.

"Gods you're tight, Girl-Creature. And you've gotten a fair bit of me in your body, you know that? All your work in my mouth paid off, and the spare is running down the rest of my dick… Keep going, Girl-Creature Alice." Alice began to raise herself again, feeling a soft shudder through his body and hers. She sat up about half way, arched her back, and lowered herself again. His groan was louder with the tightening of her inner muscles, and she began to slowly ride him.

"You are very good at riding, and very tight." Lord Oceanic said between groans. Alice couldn't talk or moan; she was too full. It felt very odd, though very amazing, and she was extremely lightheaded. Her breath was coming out in quick gasps and the occasional outcry from her sudden orgasms. "And every time you cum… Ah…" he exclaimed when she came again. "You get tighter and even wetter… You'll have me cumming soon…"

She was riding faster now. Not very fast, but at a steady pace with her breathing and his, her hips bucking on him in a fashion she distantly hoped was pleasing for a whale. She felt him getting harder, and wondered if her body could take it if he came. She found out.

He groaned low and loud, and his whole body tensed as his moan grew louder. The hot jets in her were as hard as any thrust, and she felt them going deep into her body. He stiffened, and then relaxed, and she slid off of him onto his stomach, dripping.

"That… was worth a million battles, Girl-Creature Alice." He said after a time when she was recovered enough to stand. "I will have my people fight for this cause."

She bowed, then grabbed her clothes, secretly hoping no other whale would ever need her convincing again.


End file.
